The Mansion Incident
by program-reaper
Summary: After being left behind by their pilot, the members of STARS Alpha Team must find a way to escape the horrors of the Spencer Estate and uncover the truth behind the events that occured. Loosely based on the Umbrella Chronicles. M for language/violence.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I don't own Resident Evil or any of the characters involved in this story. All of those belong to Capcom and/or anyone else who helped create/publish/market Resident Evil.**

**This is my personal take on The Mansion Incident. Sort of based on the Umbrella Chronicles scenarios. If there are any details I missed, it's because I haven't played the REmake fully in a few years. Please keep all criticism constructive, thanks!**

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Jill scanned the forest as Alpha Team flew across the Arklay Mountains. Suddenly, the searchlight glinted off of something metal through the trees.

"Look Chris!" She said, pointing in the direction of the helicopter wreckage.

"Brad, take us down." Wesker commanded as he noticed the chopper. The helicopter touched down in an open field nearby. Only a single hour after take-off, Bravo Team reported that they had engine failure, and had to make an emergency landing. Within another hour, all contact with Bravo Team was lost.

"Joseph, you investigate the wreckage. The rest of you, spread out, try to find any sign as to what may have happened to Bravo." Wesker's voice echoed throughout the empty forest. Jill began walking in the general direction of the wreckage, knowing that there would have to be some sign of them near there.

Joseph held his Samurai Edge tightly in his grip. His boot crunched against a small twig and leaves. The flashlight attached to his pistol reflected slightly off the metal of the S.T.A.R.S. chopper. As he stepped closer, the metallic smell of blood greeted his nose. His foot crunched against something other than earth as he stepped closer, it was glass. He stepped inside the chopper, and felt his throat tighten. Kevin, the new pilot, was strewn all over the inside of the chopper. His hand was missing, and his head had very little skin left, not to mention it was hanging onto his neck by, quite literally, a thread. Joseph choked out a scream and ran from the chopper, not even wanting to see what could have done that to a person.

Chris looked down to find a small trail of blood, he looked up, following the path with his eyes, but his visibility was extremely hindered by the fog that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. He shined his flashlight into the gray, smoky veil, but that didn't help at all. It was like shining a light on a wall. Suddenly, he heard a stifled shriek, and he began running in the direction of the noise.

Joseph had stopped running, and was now walking at a fast pace, his hand shaking slightly. He had never been so rattled in his entire life. As his foot snapped against a rather large twig, he heard something move in the distance. He looked towards the noise, and watched as a dog walked slowly towards him. He was about to move away, when he noticed the dog was missing an eye, and a rather large amount of fur…and skin. The dog snarled as Joseph moved. His hand rose slightly and his grip tightened, and then the dog was on him.

Jill ran as she heard the scream, which was immediately followed by gunshots, and more screams. Jill moved as quickly as she dared with limited visibility. Her gun pointed into the air. She stopped when she felt a bullet whiz past her face. She took a few steps further and gasped, her stomach twisting itself into knots. Joseph lay on the ground, blood spurting from his mouth as dogs ripped at every available part of his body. A large portion of his throat was missing, and a few dogs had their snouts _inside_ his stomach. Jill could hear the clicks as his nerves twitched and his fingers jerked against the trigger. She took a single step back, knowing that Joseph was already dead. Her heart stopped as a twig snapped underfoot. A one-eyed dog turned to look at her slowly, the sinew that should have been hidden beneath skin and fur contracting with the movement.

Chris stopped short as he saw Jill, her gun pointed ahead of her, her eyes wide with terror. He followed her gaze, and nearly gasped as he watched a pack of dogs rip Joseph apart. His had jerked around to Jill as a twig snapped in her direction. She was frozen, her eyes looked even wider, if that had been possible. He looked back to the dogs. Three of the dogs had been torn away from the ragged body by the prospect of fresh meat. One began to advance slowly, and then it took off. Chris reacted without thinking; he almost didn't even realize what was happening. His hand jerked up, and his finger twitched three times in rapid succession. Blood erupted from the dogs neck and chest, a few drops splattering against Jill's face. Chris ran to Jill, who had fallen down when the dog leapt at her. He grabbed her arm and pulled up.

"Come on! We have to go!" Chris commanded. Jill snapped out of the daze she was in and pulled herself up. The tow of them began running towards the sound of gunfire, obviously they weren't the only ones being confronted. Jill felt the cool metal of her Samurai Edge in her hands, and realized that she might lose it, so she shoved the gun in her hip-holster. She stumbled as her boot hit a tree root, but quickly regained her bearings. Jill heard the unmistakable sound of rotor blades. The trees began to sway as the speed picked up. Within seconds, Chris and Jill were watching Brad fly overhead; the team's only means of escape, gone.

"Hey, Brad! Where the hell's he going?" Chris screamed. Jill felt her stomach twist into a tight knot, and then do flips. Brad was leaving them. Yeah, they called him "Chicken-Heart Vickers", but she never imagined that he would actually _leave_ them.

_You'll get yours you son of a bitch._

Chris stopped, and Jill knew exactly what he was thinking. The sound of gunfire had stopped seconds before the helicopter took off, and she feared the worse. Chris turned around, and Jill followed suit. Chris raised his arm as a means of shielding himself from the bite of a lunging dog. A shot rang out, almost deafening Jill. The dog yelped and flew past Chris. Chris and Jill spun around to see Wesker standing behind them.

"Chris this way!" He commanded. Chris didn't hesitate, he grabbed Jill's arm again and took off. They heard gunshots behind them, each followed by a yelp. He heard the pounding of paws following right behind them, even a few jaws snapping. Chris gripped Jill's arm tighter. His mind was racing to find a solution, when the Spencer Estate rose through the fog.

"Jill! Head for that mansion!" Chris roared, he let go of Jill's arm and spun around, his gun shooting up in front of his face. He squeezed the trigger, and Jill heard yelps follow the ear-splitting shots. Her legs were aching by the time she actually reached the mansion. Her hand darted out and wrapped tightly around the door-handle. She squeezed and slammed her shoulder against the door. She heard a small _crack_ and the door flew open. As she spun around, she saw that someone had placed a candlestick in the door handles. Obviously they wouldn't have kept anything that was actually trying out of the mansion.

Chris stumbled into the mansion, Jill was waiting by the door.

"Wesker and Barry are coming," he breathed, making sure that she knew they were still out there. Barry was through the door next, his massive frame doubling over as he gasped for breath. Wesker was next, his breath barely quickened. Jill slammed the door behind him, and her fingers fumbled over the antique lock. She pressed her back to the cool wood and slid to the marble floor.

"What the hell were those things?" Chris asked.

"Dogs," Wesker said, his voice calm and even.

"How the hell can you say that so calmly? Those weren't fucking dogs! Those were fucking monsters!" Jill screamed.

"Where the hell are we?" Barry asked, his ragged breathing calming down.

"The Spencer Estate," Wesker observed

"This place is enormous," Barry said.

"Hey, this is probably where Bravo Team is," Jill said. She realized that she had probably just stated the obvious and felt her cheeks heat up.

"Most likely. It's the only place for miles that would provide any shelter from those _dogs_," Wesker said, with heavy emphasis on the last word. Jill got the sudden urge to slap him across the face, but quickly suppressed it. Jill stood back up, her breath finally back to normal.

"What do we do now?" She asked. Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the halls.

"Chris, Jill, you two go and investigate," Wesker ordered, "Barry and I will stay here. Don't want those things getting in."

Chris nodded and began walking towards the double doors. Jill positioned herself against the wall as Chris pushed the door open. He went in first, his gun steady in front of him. He walked forward, around a long dining table that occupied most of the dining hall itself. The only noise was the hollow tick of a grandfather clock sitting against the wall.

"Chris! Over here!" Jill said. She was kneeling by the fireplace. Her eyes had widened. Chris knelt beside her, his eyes already locked on what had Jill's attention. A small puddle of blood was mirroring the movement of the flames in the fireplace.

"Shit. Who's do you think this is?" Chris asked.

"Hopefully, a rabid animal's and not from anyone on Bravo," Jill answered, standing up and following the thin trail that led to a single door. Jill pushed the door open, and Chris followed closely behind her. She looked to the right, and saw nothing in the long, dark hallway. So she turned to her left. She walked slowly into the open area, and a small gasp escaped her lips. Chris rushed behind her and stopped dead in his tracks. Lying in the middle of the floor, was Kenneth Sullivan, a member of Bravo Team and father of two. Crouched over him was a man in tattered green blazer with deathly pale skin. Blood splashed onto Kenneth's face, and Jill gagged.

Chris watched in horror as the pale figure turned to look back at the duo. A moan escaped his blood-covered lips as his milky eyes locked onto their throats. Chris pulled his Samurai Edge from the holster and trained it on the man's chest.

"Freeze!" Chris ordered, but the figure only advanced on them, "I said don't fucking move!" The creature lurched at Jill, and Chris pulled the trigger. The man lurched back, thick blood oozing from the wound in his chest.

"That was a heart-shot. You shouldn't be standing!" Chris screamed at the man. Another moan slipped through his lips.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Jill breathed. As the monster straightened, Jill pulled the trigger, her gun aimed at his chest. More thick blood splattered the wall, but the man didn't even falter. Chris and Jill both fired another three bullets each into the monster, before Chris blew its rotted brain onto the wall.

"What the fuck?" Jill breathed.

"He was decomposing, his blood is already coagulated, and he was eating Kenneth. Ring any bells in the world of horror?" Chris said, disbelief thick in his voice.

"He was…a fucking zombie?" Jill said, a hysterical giggle lacing the words.

"Regardless of this things fictional status, we have to report back to Wesker," Chris said. The two made their way back to the main hall, only to be greeted with another shock.

"Where the hell's Wesker?"

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**AN: Sorry the chapter was a bit long, but I just couldn't find a good place to stop. I appreciate any constructive criticism you may have to offer. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, here's the second chapter. I really hope that I haven't lost the feel from the first. And thanks to everyone who thought the first chapter was good. I really wasn't expecting to get such a positive reaction.**

**Once again, I own nothing relating to Resident Evil and/or its distributors/etc…**

"Where the hell's Wesker?" Chris asked, his voice shaking ever so slightly. Jill looked around the large room, but she couldn't find any sign of a struggle. The door seemed to still be locked, there was no blood, they hadn't heard anything coming from this direction…and yet, Barry and Wesker were missing.

"Wesker? Barry?" Jill's voice echoed through the empty chamber.

"Jill, look around, see if you can find anything. I'm going to check upstairs. But don't leave this hall." Chris's commanded; his voice laced with concern. Jill nodded and began looking for any sign of Barry and Wesker on the ground floor. She walked don the small set of stairs behind the main staircase and came a to a rust covered gate. Behind the gate was a dark, and apparently very long tunnel. As she stepped forward, her fingers wrapped around the gate, rust flaking off at her touch.

She pulled at the gate, but it barely moved. She shook it, to see if the rust had made it hard to open, but it still wouldn't open. The gate scraped against the floor. The screech was followed by an inhuman moan, coming from behind the gate. Jill heard chains being dragged along the ground, as the moans grew louder. Jill squinted into the darkness, hoping to see whatever was behind the gate before it saw her.

"What the hell was that?" Chris asked. Jill jumped and spun around, her hand slapping against Chris's chest.

"Don't fucking do that!"

"Did I scare you?" Chris asked, an innocent grin pasted on his face.

"Asshole," Jill said as she walked back up the stairs. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing. It's like they just disappeared," Chris replied, the smile fading from his face.

"So, what now? Do we split up or search together?" Jill asked.

"Well, if we split up, that's twice the ground, but we could get lost. Stay together, and we would have a better chance of survival, however, it would take twice as long to search the entire mansion," Chris said, deliberating.

"How 'bout we split up and search around for about half an hour, then we meet back here and regroup to follow up on anything interesting the other found?" Jill suggested. She didn't really like the idea of splitting up after what she had seen and heard, but they needed to find the others fast.

"Fine," Chris sighed. He walked over to Jill, and being the taller of the two, looked down, "Be careful. I don't want to lose you too." He cupped her chin with his hand and bent down. Their lips touched lightly, but only for a second before Chris was walking back towards the dining room.

"Let's keep the searching to the first floor for now," he said, and then he was through the doors. Jill hadn't known how much she had really meant to Chris until that moment. She turned to face the blue doors on the east side of the mansion. As she walked to the doors, she felt her cheeks heat up a bit. She had always suspected that Chris might have been attracted to her, and the two had always acted like they were a couple anyway… Jill shook her head to clear those thoughts from her mind for the time being. Right now she needed to focus on finding the others.

Her hand wrapped around the cool metal of the door-handle and she pulled. The room seemed to be a small art gallery of sorts. Portraits and landscapes decorated the walls, but it didn't seem cluttered. In the middle of the room stood a marble statue of a woman holding a large vase. At the far left corner of the room was another small hallway that turned, the far right corner held a plain-looking wooden door. Jill decided to check the open hall first. With her gun pointed to the floor, both hands gripping the weapon tightly, she began to walk forward.

Chris knelt by the body of Kenneth Sullivan. His dark skin was covered in blood, a sight that made Chris sick to his stomach. He hated what he was doing, but it was necessary. His hand rifled through the pockets of Kenneth's vest, trying to find any extra ammunition. After he ran out of pockets, he had only found two extra clips, but it was better than nothing. He stood up and walked to his left, where the room branched off into a very short hall and led to another door.

He chose to make a sweep of the hall he was already in before going through another door. After a quick search and trying the doors, he realized that only the door leading back to the dining hall, and the door near Kenneth were the only ones unlocked. His options were very limited, and he began hoping that the mansion wasn't as large as they had originally thought. He stepped though his only real option and began walking down the dark hallway it had put him in. As he stepped around the corner, he saw a small staircase. He had told Jill to stay on the ground floor, but he decided that, since there weren't any other unlocked doors, the stars would be his only option.

Jill looked down at the bloodied body that had just attacked her. She managed to kill it rather quickly, since it had already been stabbed numerous times. Two bullets to the chest and it was down. After quickly searching its pockets she found a small golden key with a sword carved into it. She also found a small dagger embedded into its right shoulder. On the shelves at the end of the hall she found old art supplies and a few small statues.

After searching that small room, she walked to the door she saw earlier. She turned the knob, but it barely moved. She knelt down to inspect the doorknob. The golden metal had a small sword carved into it. The lock looked rather old anyway, and she suspected that she could pick it if necessary, but it would take much longer than using the key she found.

_How convenient._

She slipped the smooth key into the lock and twisted. With a light _click_ the door moved slightly. Jill turned the knob and pushed the door open. The entire room seemed bright, but somehow still dull. The walls were a pale golden-yellow and the carpet was a beige color. It matched, but still seemed to clash all at the same time. Placed sporadically along the wall were small display cases. As Jill peered into each of them, she realized whoever had decorated the mansion had a very twisted sense of style. The cases displayed bones, mostly indistinguishable to Jill, but some she could tell belonged to hands. There also seemed to be pieces of oily-looking leather, which Jill eventually realized were dried pieces of flesh.

As she came to the end of the hall, Jill heard something slam against the glass window she had just passed. She turned around slowly, afraid of what she might see. Suddenly, a dog crashed through the glass. Fur and skin were peeling from the dog, and blood-tainted saliva dripped from its bared teeth. The monster growled, a low and menacing sound, primal. Jill slowly backed towards the door as the creature advanced on her. She heard the sound of more shattering glass. Her hands moved very slowly behind her, trying to find the wood of the door. Finally, her hand touched the smoothness of the door. She began to slide it slowly along the wood, now searching for the door handle. Her fingers touched the cool metal, and they wrapped themselves around it. Suddenly, the dog lunged for her. She quickly spun around and threw her through the door, kicking it shut behind her.

The hall she had stepped into had a green-floral pattern over pale yellow as the wallpaper. The floor was wood. To her right was a metal door, which she assumed led outside. She didn't feel like facing any more canines for the time being. She jumped slightly as something slammed against the wooden door, hard enough to crack it slightly. She quickly walked away from the door, and opened the white wooden door around the corner. Inside there was a small bath-tub/shower combo and a sink. There was a small enclave that she assumed held the toilet. As she walked closer, she noticed that the tub was filled with very murky water. Her curiosity overpowering her better reasoning, she stuck her hand into the tub and searched around for the plug. She found it rather quickly, and easily pulled it from the drain.

She stared into the dark-brown liquid, but after only a few seconds, a hand shot out of the water and its dissolving fingers scraped against her cheek, leaving disgusting gray trails. She leapt back, but lost her balance and fell to the floor. The dissolving zombie slid out of the tub and began crawling towards Jill. She quickly got back to her feet, but the dissolving hand had already wrapped itself around her ankle. She struggled, but despite its current state, the zombie had a death-grip. Finally, deciding it was her only option; she pulled her foot into the air, and then slammed it down onto the zombie's head. With only a slight crunch and a rather large amount of _squilch, _the zombie stopped moving and brain oozed out of the numerous cracks and holes in its head. Jill took a few deep breaths, and then felt bile rise quickly out of her stomach. She ran to the toilet, and all of the disgusting things she had seen from that night were released into the toilet.

Chris fell back against the cold marble wall, his heart beating faster than he thought possible. He had seen a key that was fit neatly into a raised area of the floor. He looked down and noticed that a chest plate was carved into it. He figured it would be worth it to keep the key, so he pulled it from its place. As soon as he did so, he heard gears begin to turn under him, and suddenly the walls closed, making the hallway much more narrow than it had been. A suit of armor also blocked the area behind him. He began to walk forward, but stopped dead when another suit of armor came around the corner, except this one had a spike shield with spinning blades.

_The fuck…?_

Chris quickly ran back to the key's original spot. He tried to shove the key back in, but his fingers kept slipping. Eventually, he managed to put the key back in its rightful place, and everything reversed itself. After ten minutes, his heart had slipped back into a somewhat normal pace, and he decided he should meet back with Jill. As he walked down the corridor, he looked down at the body he had passed a few minutes ago. He didn't worry about it getting back up. Ten holes were visible in its back, and he didn't need anymore proof that there were still survivors in this place.

As his hand touched the doorknob, he heard shuffling behind him. He turned back around to see that the "dead body" had gotten to its feet. But it looked different than the other zombies he had killed, (not that he felt he was an expert). The creature was drenched in blood, and it looked like it's skin was peeling off. (More than the other zombies.) Its eyes, instead of the milky shade of their original color, were completely white and somewhat shrunken. It had large portions of bone that had ripped through his fingertips, and now formed talons. Its teeth had become much sharper, almost needle-like. The creature didn't moan either, it made a raspy breathing noise that was somewhere between asthma attack and a roar. With no warning, the creature ran at Chris. He quickly pulled his gun out and fired a bullet at the monster's skull, but it somehow _dodged_ the bullet. Chris rolled under its arm as it swiped at him, its claws tearing through the door like it was paper.

Chris took aim at the creature again and fired, but, like last time, the creature simply dodged the bullet. Chris pulled the trigger again, but only an empty click was heard.

_Shit._

The creature had closed the distance between the two in a fraction of a second, and its clawed hand was swinging down at Chris's face. Blood sprayed the wall, and Chris fell back, slamming his head against the door behind him. His vision went black save for the few stars that had flashed into his vision, but then they too were gone. Thoughts swam through Chris's mind, and then everything stopped.

**AN: Oooo, cliffhanger. One again, I appreciate all of the positive comments I've been getting, and I hoped I lived up to your expectations after the first chapter, although I feel like I lost that same feel I had in the first chapter, but maybe this one will be okay. I'm going to try to put out a new chapter every month, but shit happens, so that may not always be possible.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Here we are, chapter 3. I got this one out really early due to some pushing from a fan… Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews, they provide great motivation. I'm going to try to start pushing out chapters ASAP, since I really want to begin writing for my two favorite games in the series. Anyway, here we go…

I don't own the rights to anything related to RE.

Jill sat in the corner of the bathroom, her head cradled in her hands. Her mind was racing.

_What the hell happened here? Were these ever real people? They had to have been. Those dogs…_

Suddenly, a thought hit her, one she had never considered before.

_What else is lurking in this place?_

That question chilled her to the bone. Who's to say that mutant dogs and zombies are the only things hiding out in this mansion? With a renewed determination to find anyone that might still be alive, she stood up and walked out the door. Continuing down the corridor, her eyes kept flicking to the windows, expecting another dog to come crashing through. She rounded another corner. To her left was a dark-wood door. A little farther down, around another corner, was a set of double doors. She took the door to her left.

The door led to a high-ceilinged, square room that seemed to be made entirely of marble. The walls were somewhat plain, the ceiling, however, had a large emblem on it. She continued to the only door in the room. Through the door, was a small parlor. A red couch sat in the back of the room. A small coffee table sat in front of it. A single book and a few magazines lay on the table. Jill's attention, however, was centered on the shotgun hanging on the wall. She slipped her Samurai Edge into her holster and pulled the gun from the rack. Ignoring the clicking sound she heard when the gun was lifted from the rack, she checked to see if it was loaded. To her surprise, it was.

She walked back out of the parlor with more confidence than she had before. But as soon as the door closed behind her, her sense of safety was shattered to a million pieces. She heard grinding, and a click as the door locked behind her. It was more of a metallic _slam_ than a frail _click_. She knew instantly that the door had something other than a standard lock. She ran to the only other door and turned the knob, but it too was sealed shut. The door didn't even move when she slammed her shoulder against it.

"Oh God, what did I do know?" She threw herself against the door again, this time dropping the shotgun, "Chris, Wesker? Barry? Help!" She didn't care who or what opened the door. As long as she didn't die here.

"Jill?"

"Barry? Thank God! The door's jammed and the ceiling's coming down!"

"Stand back!" Jill heard a few gunshots from Barry's 44. Magnum. She saw a few rays of light hit the floor where the gun had made holes. He slammed against the door, and the metal bar holding it closed buckled. He flung the door open and grabbed Jill's hand. He roughly pulled her through, and Jill heard the ceiling slam down behind her. She also heard the crunch of wood and metal as her shotgun was crushed.

"A few seconds later, and you would've fit nicely into a sandwich."

"Really, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Oh, I have something for you." He pulled something from his back pocket and placed it in Jill's hand, "It's a set of lock-picks, I thought it'd be of more use to the Master of Unlocking."

"Barry, you know I hate that nickname."

"So?" And then he began walking away.

"Wait, where did you go? Where's Wesker?" But he didn't listen. He just walked away, back towards the main hall, "Damn."

Chris opened his eyes to be greeted by a bright light. His hand shot up to guard his eyes as he turned over. He realized that he was lying on a bed. His eyes focused on the small cabinet sitting against the wall, covered in what looked like medicine bottles.

"Oh, good you're awake!" A cheerful voice greeted him. It was a young woman's.

"Rebecca?" Rebecca Chambers was the newest recruit to the STARS Bravo Team. She was only nineteen years old, a child genius basically. She was the team's field medic.

"Yeah. Richard and I had heard the gunshots earlier and started wandering around the mansion to find out who it was. We were pretty close when we heard your gunshots and found you in the hall." Chris tried to think back. He remembered hearing a single gunshot before he hit his head. Richard must have killed the monster.

"Wait, you said Richard was with you. Where is he now?"

"He said that if you were here, then that meant the other members of Alpha were here, so he went to look for them."

"Oh. Well, Joseph was killed…and Barry and Wesker both disappeared. Jill and I split up, and we were going to – How long have I been out?"

"About ten minutes, why?"

"I was supposed to meet Jill in the main hall after a half hour."

"You should go before she gets worried, I'll wait here for Richard and tell him where you went," she said, a sad smile on her face. Chris could tell she felt useless.

"Don't worry, Jill and I will come back for you, and then we'll get the hell outta here." Rebecca gave him an actual smile, and then Chris walked out the door.

After deliberating for a few seconds, Jill had decided to go after Barry.

"Hey! Barry!" He turned around quickly, his face set in a grim line.

"I thought you were going to check he other door."

"I need some answers. Were did you go? And where the hell is Captain Wesker?"

"Wesker and I heard something, so we went to investigate. We were attacked and separated."

"…Oh. Chris and I found Kenneth, but he was already dead." Barry's eyes widened, and then his face was wiped of all emotion other than what resembled…irritation?

"Do you need any extra ammunition?" Jill checked her pockets quickly, and then looked up at him.

"If you have any to spare, that would be great." Instead of giving her a few clips, he pulled his heavily customized version of a Samurai Edge. His used 40. Caliber S&W bullets, and was capable of firing in 3-round bursts. Jill had wondered how much he paid Kendo to make it.

"Take it."

"But what about you?"

"I like the buddy system we have here," he said, lifting his 44. up to eye level. He handed Jill a few extra clips for the weapon and then walked away.

"Barry you should really come with me, we need to get out of here."

"I'm going to find Wesker, and then I'll find you again." Jill noticed that he was now going in the opposite direction of the main hall, and wondered if he was just trying to get away from her. She sighed heavily, and then began to walk back towards the main hall. Her mind filled itself with every question that had risen since she stepped foot in the mansion, and her sense of dread grew. For a second, she thought that they may not make it out alive, but that thought was crushed instantly. She couldn't think like that, not right now anyway.

Chris sat on the staircase, wondering if Jill had already come to the main hall, seen he wasn't there, and then gone to look for him. He decided he would wait a few more minutes and then go to look for her. But he didn't have to wait long before the double doors to his left opened and Jill stepped into the hall. He stood up quickly and walked over to her.

"Chris! Thank God! I was worried about you," she said, throwing her arms around him.

"It's okay. I found Rebecca. She had been with Richard, but he was looking for survivors when I woke up. We should get back to her, I don't think she had a weapon."

"Woke up?"

"I hit my head and got knocked unconscious…"

"Clumsy as ever." Chris leaned down to kiss the top of Jill's head.

"Where's your hat?"

"What?" she asked, her hand touching the top of her head, "Probably got crushed."

"Crushed?"

"Trap shotgun," she sighed.

"Damn, I was hoping there was only one trap in this house. Anyway, we need to get to Rebecca."

"I found Barry," she said as they made their way back to the small medical supply room, "He said that he and Wesker heard something and went to investigate, but they were attacked and got separated."

"Where did he go?"

"He said he was going to find Wesker."

"If everyone keeps looking for each other we're never going to find anyone," he complained. He opened the door to the medical supply room, but it was in shambles. Two of the Crimson zombies Chris had seen earlier turned to look at their new victims. Jill wasted no time in pulling out the Samurai Edge given to her by Barry. She squeezed the trigger twice and the creature's heads were splashed against the back wall.

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"Barry," she answered, walking in to the room. There was only a small amount of blood that wasn't caused by Jill's new toy. "At least those are the only bodies," she gestured to the two Crimson figures lying on the ground.

"We have to find her," Chris said. He seemed very protective of Rebecca, and Jill began to wonder if it was because she reminded him of his sister, Claire.

"We will. Chris, look," she pointed to a red trail leading from the room and up the stairs.

"Damn it. How did we not see that?" The two began following the blood trail, hoping it wouldn't lead them to a dead body.

"So, she believed you?" Wesker's cold voice echoed through the mostly empty room.

"Yes, or at least she didn't question me any further." Barry replied.

"Giving her your gun probably helped with that." Wesker remarked, a small smile appearing for a second, and then it was gone again, "You know what needs to be done. Help lead them in the right direction. There are too many traps to count in this damned house, and we're going to have to go through them all to get what we need. And then, you can go home to your family and forget this ever happened." Wesker gave Barry a smile before leaving the small storeroom. Barry walked over to a small chest sitting in the corner and dropped a box of 40. Cal bullets on top of it for Jill, then left the room himself.

AN: And the plot begins to thicken… Once again, tell me what you think, love to hear your comments. I can guarantee the next chapter won't be out as soon as this one was, but it will be out sometime next month. Thanks for reading,

**P-R**


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Ha! I lied! I honestly wasn't expecting to get this chapter out a day after the last, but I did. Big plot twist in the last chapter. Does that mean things are about to get more interesting? Why yes, I believe it does.

I don't own the rights to Resident Evil, because if I did…Jill and Chris would have been together long ago.

Rebecca knelt down by Richard. A large snakebite dominated the left side of his body. Thinking about the snake sent chills down Rebecca's spine. The beast was enormous, taking up most of the attic that it occupied. Richard also had a bite wound on his right shoulder and a few gashes from the claws of those things that had attacked them earlier. Rebecca felt that it was all her fault, as his wounds had all come when he was trying to protect her. He didn't understand that she didn't need to be protected. After all, she and Billy had managed to make it through the training facility unharmed.

Billy…

He had wondered into the forest after their escape. Was he still okay? Or did those dogs get to him? She pulled the dog tags out of her shirt and gripped them tightly. Richard was unconscious…she didn't know how much longer he would be able to make it. The snake had come out of a hole neither of them had noticed. It would have killed her… She made up her mind right then. No one would protect her anymore. She would find the serum for Richard; she would be the one to save _him_.

She shook him lightly and his eyes opened a little. She smiled and said, "Richard, I think I saw a bottle of anti-venom in the medical supply room. I'm going to get it for you, and then I'll come back. You're going to be okay." She patted his arm lightly, and then walked to the door. She twisted the knob, but it caught before the door would open. She began shaking the knob, and then realized it had locked, but there was no way to unlock it from this side without a key. The door was already open when they went in, but they closed it behind them, to keep the zombies from getting in. She didn't even think about the possibility of getting locked in.

"Damn it!" Rebecca fell to the floor and felt tears stream down her cheeks. She wasn't going to be able to save Richard, and if someone didn't find them soon, he was going to die.

The blood trail stopped abruptly on the second floor of the dining room. Whoever was bleeding had somehow stopped it.

"Should we just start searching around the second floor?" Jill asked.

"That's probably our best bet, but we should stick together this time. There's no telling what the hell else is in this mansion," Chris said, knowing very well that splitting up would be dangerous with those Crimson zombies running around. The two checked the doors along the second floor, and only one actually opened. It led to a dimly lit hallway. A little farther down the corridor and to the right was a single door, the only one visible from their point of view. As they moved closer to the door, they could see a bloody hand print on the doorframe.

Chris gripped the door handle, but the door was locked. Jill knelt down to examine the door, to find that it had a carving of armor on it. She was beginning to sense a pattern with the keys. A sword and armor so far…she didn't want to know how many other pieces there were. Chris slammed his fist against the door.

"Hello? Rebecca? Richard?"

"Chris? Is that you?" Jill recognized Rebecca's voice through the door.

"Yeah, it's me. Jill's with me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but Richard is bleeding a lot, and I'm positive that he's poisoned."

"Poisoned, what happened?" Jill asked. She and Richard were close friends, almost like brother and sister.

"We were attacked by a giant snake. Whatever happened in this mansion, it changed everything!" Neither Jill nor Chris could speak. A giant snake?

"Chris, what the hell happened here?" Jill whispered.

"I have no idea, but we're going to find out. Listen, Rebecca, is there any way to open the door from your side?"

"No, it needs a key from both sides, and we don't have one. The door was already open when we got here. We closed it to get away from the monsters in the hall. It was another one of those running zombies."

"But there's nothing out here…" Jill whispered. Neither of them had noticed the clicking of claws along the ceiling, and neither of them had heard the rasping breathing coming from the mutant that was now hanging directly over their heads. "Rebecca, there's nothing out he-" Jill stopped short as what seemed to be a tongue shot down right by her face, slicing into her cheek as it pulled back. She dropped down onto her stomach and rolled over. Barry's Samurai Edge was in her hands. She had the sights on the abomination, but couldn't find the courage to move anymore.

The creature looked like it had been turned inside out. It was clearly once human, but now it had mutated to a somewhat animalistic form. Its brain was exposed, but it had no eyes or nose. There were two small holes in the side of its head, what must have been ears. Its lip-less mouth was filled with needle sharp teeth. A slick, pink tongue that had to be at the very least, three feet long was slithering back into its mouth. A low, raspy breathing sound grated against Jill and Chris's ears, and then the creature dropped down.

Jill practically threw herself back. The creature twisted in the air, much like a falling cat, and landed perfectly on its clawed feet. The way the creature's arm and legs had shifted made its body very close to the ground. Jill took the opportunity as it was raising its head, to scoot forward, then slip her leg under its chin and kick upward. The monster flipped backward, but still landed on its feet. It quickly straightened into a very cat-like sitting position. Its head reared back, and Jill could see the tip of its tongue snaking out of its mouth.

"What the hell is going on out there? Answer me!" Rebecca's panic-stricken voice sounded through the door. A gunshot was her only answer as Chris squeezed the trigger of his Berretta. Blood splashed against the door at the end of the hall and more began leaking from the hole in the monster's neck. A screech bounced of the walls, quickly followed by another gunshot. The abomination slammed against the door, then fell to the ground, lifeless. Smoke flowed from the tip of Jill's newly acquired weapon.

"Chris! Jill! Are you okay?"

"We're fine, Rebecca. Everything's taken care of out here," Jill said as she knelt in front of the door and began trying to pick the lock. The lock was something Jill had never encountered before, and couldn't be picked with her tools.

"Rebecca, stand back, we're going to break the door down."

"Okay." Chris backed up to the other side of the hall, and then threw himself at the door. There was a _crack_, but the door was still standing. Chris repeated the process twice, and finally the door broke free from the wall. Chris and Jill rushed to Richard's side and knelt down.

"Richard!" Jill felt tears stinging her eyes, and quickly wiped them away.

"I thought I saw a bottle of anti-venom in the supply room we where hiding. If I had that, I might be able to cure the poison. You two stay with him, I'll go get the serum." Rebecca said, beginning to stand up.

"No, you need to stay with him. If his condition changes, we wouldn't know what to do. Jill and I will get the medicine," Chris said, putting his hand on her shoulder. Jill pulled out her original Samurai Edge and handed it to Rebecca, then gave her the last two clips for the gun.

"Take that, keep yourself and Richard safe. We will be back."

"What about you?"

"Barry gave me his gun. Don't worry," Jill smiled and then walked from the small hall, breaking into a run the minute they were back in the main hall. Her mind was racing so fast, she barely registered the journey back to the small room. They quickly searched for anything labeled anti-venom, briefly wishing that Rebecca had mentioned something about what it _looked_ like. Finally, Chris found a bottle labeled "Anti-Venom 0139K," and since it was the only thing that mentioned anti-venom, they decided that must have been it.

As they stepped back into the hallway, three dogs crashed through the windows, quickly followed by four more.

"Shit!" The dogs were standing between Chris and Jill, teeth bared. One lunged at Jill, knocking her to the ground. She felt her gun slip from her grasp and hit the floor. She began backing away, and then felt her foot kick her gun away, "Fuck!"

"Jill! Run!" Chris yelled, "I'll get this to Richard." Jill didn't waste any time, she jumped up and ran through the nearest unlocked door.

Chris turned and ran, not wanting to face all seven of the dogs at once. He ran back to the hall were Rebecca and Richard were waiting.

"Where's Jill?" Rebecca asked as she took the serum and syringe from Chris.

"Dog attack, we got separated." Chris said, hoping that she was okay.

"Richard, I'm going to give you an injection. This should help you." Rebecca stuck the needle into his arm and pushed down on the plunger. Richard winced ever so slightly, and then relaxed again. His breathing was very slow, and he seemed almost deathly pale.

"Is he going to be okay?" Chris asked. If anything happened to Richard, Jill would be devastated. Chris was also positive that Richard had a girlfriend. That was when the gravity of their situation hit Chris full force. How the hell were they going to explain any of this to anyone?

"He should be. His breathing is picking up a little, but I'm worried about the bite he got from one of those monsters. I think it may have gotten infected." Chris looked at a purplish wound on Richard's shoulder. The edges around the bite were turning a greenish color. The gashes on his chest looked infected as well. The visible blood inside of them also looked coagulated.

"Isn't that only supposed to happen after death?" Chris asked, pointing to the wounds.

"The coagulation? Yes, that's what _really_ worries me." She looked down at Richard. "We need to find a place to put him. He can't sit in this hallway like this."

"I'm afraid we don't really have much of a choice. There isn't any other safe place to put him."

"Just the main hall would be better. The air is really heavy in here, and he's having enough trouble breathing as it is…"

"Okay," Chris said. He slid his arm under Richard's and then pulled Richard's other arm over his shoulder, "Richard, can you walk?"

"Sort of…" he whispered.

"Sort of is good enough."

Jill had stumbled into someone's room. The bed was stained with blood, and the scent of decay filled the room. She was looking around for any form of weapon, as she had dropped hers in the hallway with the dogs. Opening a drawer, she found a taser, which was better than nothing. As she straightened up, she noticed an open diary lying on the desk. She began reading in the hope of finding answers.

_May 9, 1998_

_Played poker tonight with Scott and Alias from security, and Steve from research. Steve was the big winner tonight, but I think he was cheating. Scumbag._

_May 10, 1998_

_One of the higher-ups assigned me to take care of a new creature. It looks like a skinned gorilla. Feeding instructions were to give it live animals. When I threw in a pig, the creature seemed to play with it… tearing off the pig's legs and pulling out the guts before it actually started eating._

_May 11, 1998_

_At around 5 a.m., Scott woke me up. Scared the shit out of me too. He was wearing a protective suit. He handed me another one and told me to put it on. Said there'd been an accident in the basement lab. I just knew something like this would happen. Those bastards never sleep, even on holiday._

_May 12, 1998_

_I've been wearing this damn space suit since yesterday. My skin's getting grimy and feels itchy all over. The goddamn dogs have been looking at me funny, so I decided not to feed them today. Screw 'em._

_May 13, 1998_

_Went to the infirmary today because my back is swollen and itchy. They put a big bandage on it and told me I didn't need to wear the suit anymore. All I wanna do is sleep._

_May 14, 1998_

_Found another big blister on my foot this morning. I ended up dragging my foot all the way to the dogs' pen this morning. They were quiet all day, which is weird. Then I realized some of them had escaped. Maybe this is their way of getting back at me for not feeding them the last three days. If anybody finds out, I'll have my head handed to me._

_May 16, 1998_

_Rumors going around that a researcher who tried to escape the estate last night was shot. My entire body feels hot and itchy and I'm sweating all the time now. I scratched the swelling on my arm and a piece of rotten flesh just dropped off. What the hell's happening to me?_

_May 19, 1998_

_Fever gone but itchy. Today hungry and eat doggie food._

_May 21, 1998_

_Itchy itchy Scott came ugly face so kill him. Tasty._

_4 / / itchy tasty_

Jill couldn't believe what she had just read. In fact, she had to reread it three times before finally grasping what had happened. Obviously, there had been some kind of viral outbreak, created in a …_lab in the basement_. The infection had to have been airborne; otherwise he wouldn't have contracted the virus. So that meant that every single member of STARS could be infected at that very moment.

"Shit…" Her only option was to run back through the hall, try to grab her gun, and then get back to the others and warn them.

"You want me to do what?" Barry barked at Wesker.

"I said that you have to kill him. He doesn't deserve this life anyway. Do you know what he betrayed his team for? Only five thousand dollars. That's how much you mean to him Barry, not even a whole thousand per person. He was greedy."

"And what does that make you and I?"

"That makes you a family man, and me a very loyal subject. Don't make this any harder than it has to be. Find him, and kill him. Oh, and use a knife. We don't need anyone else to realize there are traitors amongst their ranks," Wesker gave Barry his fake smile, and then walked from the room.

"Goddamn it!" Barry stormed from the room and made his way to the balcony on the second floor, where his victim was supposed to be waiting for him. He could see him sitting in a chair at the very end of the balcony.

As Barry got closer, he realized that Forest was already dead. His guilt at agreeing to kill him was crushed, but it was instantly replaced with the sick, lonely feeling associated with the death of a friend. Barry looked at the body. Claw marks covered his body. Some of the marks looked like they had been made by a large animal, while others looked like they had been made by a bird. Other small tears at his flesh were visible. All of the wounds looked infected. His hands moved swiftly through Forest's torn pockets. He finally found the heavy stone and metal medallion and then stood up, saying his last, silent goodbyes to Forest, and then leaving.

Jill stood, pressed against the door, trying to prepare for what she was going to have to do. She took a deep breath, and then blew it out loudly. Her hand tightened around the door, and then she heard the dogs bark and growl, followed by seven gunshots, and seven yelps. She flung the door opened as footsteps came closer.

"Jill. How nice to see you in good health." Wesker's cool voice echoed through the halls, "I believe you dropped this." He handed Jill Barry's gun.

"Thank you. How did you know that Barry gave me his gun?"

"I spoke with him earlier."

"And he didn't stay with you? We need to get out of here. Some kind of virus was released in the mansion, and we could be infected."

"I found notes about the virus earlier, and don't worry. The virus is only airborne for a few hours, after which it can only be contracted through fluid contact."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Now, you need to continue investigating the mansion. It isn't safe to just leave through the front doors and run through the forest with those _dogs_ loose. We need a solid escape plan, and that would only get us killed." Jill couldn't believe he was still holding that small outburst against her.

"You're right. I'll try to find another way out of here."

"Good," Wesker smiled and began walking in the direction Jill had just come from. She quickly made her way to the main hall, only to find that Richard and Rebecca were sitting on the staircase.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Richard needed some fresh air, but going outside isn't safe, so I thought this would be the best alternative."

"Right. Richard, how are you?"

"I don't feel good. I'm hot, and my skin itches like crazy, especially were those damn things bit me."

"No…"

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Don't worry about it. Where's Chris?"

"He saw Barry. He took Chris through that door, and they haven't come back." Jill ran up the stairs and through the door that Rebecca had pointed at. Walking through the small hall led to yet another door. She stepped through the door and onto the balcony.

"Chris, Barry!" She said, relief thick on her voice.

"Jill… It's Forest, he's dead."

"What? No… not Forest." He was the Bravo team's greatest marksman. He and Chris had been great friends, as well as rivals.

"I'm going to try and find a way out. This place is dangerous, and going back through the forest would be suicide." Barry didn't say another word, he just walked away.

"Chris, I'm sorry, but Barry's right, we need to find a way out of here."

"I know, but I can't figure out what killed him. From the wounds, it looked like it was birds…but there are theses other cuts that look deeper."

"You think it might have been one of those mutated zombies?"

"It must have been, or the thing that attacked us earlier." The memory of that monster still turned Jill pale.

"He must have passed out from blood loss and the birds found him after the fact. He dropped this," Chris said, picking up a grenade launcher, "But it's empty. He must have used them all before coming to the mansion, otherwise there would be holes all over this place."

"Right. Let's go. Rebecca sounded worried, and I have something to tell all of you." Jill looked down and felt her hands begin to shake. Richard was infected; there was no doubt about it. And based on what she had read though, he shouldn't be in that state yet.

_Unless this method of infection speeds up the process._

Jill and Chris were walking back towards the door when they heard shuffling behind them. They both turned around to see Forest getting to his feet. Blood was pouring from his eyes, but it seemed thicker than usual.

"Forest, no!" Chris screamed. He began backing away, pushing Jill behind him. Forest seemed to have skipped the "normal zombie" phase and pushed straight to the "Crimson" phase. He rushed at them, an inhuman cross between moan and growl escaping his lips. Chris seemed frozen, but realization of what he needed to do seemed to flood back to him. He pulled his gun from its holster, aimed at Forest's skull, and then pulled the trigger once. Forest dropped to the ground immediately. Chris looked down at him for a few seconds, and then began walking back to the main hall.

Neither Chris nor Jill spoke until Rebecca asked them what was wrong.

"Forest is dead," Chris said.

"No…"

"And for the worst news, what happened in this mansion was caused by a viral outbreak. The virus was developed in a lab somewhere under this mansion. The virus started out airborne, but then changed. Now, it can only be transmitted through fluid contact."

"That means that… Fuck me!"

"Richard… I'm sorry," Jill practically whispered the words.

"Damn it! I'm gonna die here…"

"No! Richard, there has to be an anti-virus. They wouldn't create something like this without a cure."

"That's something else we need to find out. _Who_ did this?" Rebecca asked.

"I think I know," Chris said, "When we were looking through those bottles for the anti-venom, most of those bottle had un Umbrella logo on them."

"That's impossible! Umbrella made Raccoon City what it is! They employ over half the city's population, they make medicine for Christ's sake! They don't make…whatever the hell this shit is!" Jill said, but realization sunk in, "But they're the only one's with the resources around here to do this. They're the only ones who could do this…"

"We won't be able to fight them, assuming we make it out of here alive," Rebecca said.

"Not without solid proof anyway, and the only way to get that, is to find the lab you were talking about," Chris said, looking at Jill.

"It's agreed then, we find the lab, then find a way out."

"That means more searching."

"Richard and I can help. We'll search around too, try to find anything that could help."

"Okay, Jill and I will sweep the first floor again, you two take the top floor," Chris commanded. As Richard began walking up the steps, Chris grabbed Rebecca's arm.

"Be careful. Make sure you watch him, and at the first sign that he's turning, you kill him." Rebecca simply nodded, and then she followed him up the stairs. "Are you ready?"

Jill looked at him, "No, but if we waited until I was, we'd never get anywhere."

Barry slid the medallion into the stone slot outside, and heard the thick, metal door next to him click open. He pressed the door open and stepped into the storehouse. Half of the mission was over. He just needed to find the other medallion, and then he could let Wesker do whatever he needed to and leave. It was almost over.

AN: Yes, I did add something to Forest's character. I felt we needed a reason for how he could have been killed by a few birds WITH a grenade launcher. Also, I did add lickers, as there was no logical reason why they weren't ever in the mansion, since they evolve from Crimson Heads. Anyway, I hope everyone's enjoying what I'm doing with the story. I was kind of forced to change it up anyway, because just the same, straightforward story would be a little repetitive. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

AN: With school starting again and all, I'm not sure how frequent updates will be anymore. I'm still aiming to get at least a chapter out every month. I'm going to try to get them out faster, as I want to be finished with this by the time RE: Darkside Chronicles comes out, but that probably won't happen, since I'm going to try not to shorten the story anymore than I already have.

It didn't take much searching before Jill and Chris found a large steel door that undoubtedly led outside. Once through the door, Jill and Chris found themselves in a mid-sized storage shed. At the back of the room was a set of two wooden doors, and in the right corner of the room was a single wooden door.

"Which first?" Chris asked.

"The larger doors probably lead to an exit. So I guess those first." Jill replied. They moved cautiously to the doors, and then quickly opened them. Outside was a courtyard. A small water fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard, lying lazily around it, where three of the mutant dogs. Chris and Jill quickly took aim and dispatched the undead animals. Walking into the courtyard, the duo noticed a small walkway to the left, which led to an empty elevator shaft, and in front of them was an iron gate. Picking the less dangerous path of the two, they walked towards the gate. Swinging it open, they realized that, if they wanted to press forward, they would have to swim.

"Do you mind getting a little wet?" Chris asked.

"It's not the water that bothers me. It's what might be _in_ the water."

Chris hadn't considered that something might be lurking in the water, "I'll go first, you can follow me if you want."

"Sounds good, although there is the possibility that you might stir it up and it come after me."

"There's also the possibility that there's nothing in the water," Chris said, a reassuring smile spreading across his face. Chris slid off his boots and vest, and chunked them to the other side of the pool. He then slid slowly into the pool. Jill was already removing her boots when he began swimming to the other side, and by the time he was pulling his boots back on, Jill was pulling herself out of the water.

"You're a fast swimmer," he commented.

"Only when the circumstances require it," she replied, a smile on her lips. Jill found it amazing that she could smile in their circumstances, and finally concluded it was her way of dealing with the situation. As the two walked down the twisted stone walkway, they heard slithering above them. Suddenly, something plopped down onto Jill's shoulder.

"Fuck!" she screamed as she slapped the serpent from her shoulder. She could hear more of the snakes slapping onto the stone around them.

"Run!" Chris yelled. Jill didn't have to be told twice. She was trying not to slip on the wet walkway, but it was proving rather difficult. Twice, Chris had to catch her and steady her, but at last they reached a small elevator at the end of the walkway. Jill slapped her hand down on the single button, and the elevator began its slow descent.

Rebecca felt as if she were being watched as she slowly walked around the cemetery she and Richard had found in the backyard. They had entered the graveyard through a small hidden door they had overlooked countless times at the top of the stairs in the main hall.

"What's that?" Richard asked, pointing at a small opening that was concealed inside a large tomb. The two began walking towards it. Rebecca peered down into the dimly lit stairwell, and saw what looked to be blood. She ran quickly down the stairs, Richard right behind her. He was moving rather well for someone who had been recently poisoned and had a large bite wound dominating most of his chest.

Rebecca stopped once she got to the bottom of the stairs. Large burn marks and areas of shattered stone littered the area. Blood was splashed on the floor and walls. A single body was lying on the floor. An arm was missing and a small portion of its chest was burnt and shredded. Rebecca saw something that seemed to be a piece of flesh on the floor, and it obviously didn't belong to the crimson monster on the ground. Rebecca knelt down. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the inked portion of the skin. The design strongly resembled a portion of Forest's tattoo on his arm. Rebecca felt her stomach tighten.

"What's – that?" Richard's breathing was getting heavy. Would she have to kill him so soon?

"It looks like…a piece of Forest," Rebecca heard Richards gag behind her, she quickly spun around, "Are you okay?"

"My stomach keeps getting weaker by the second."

"Don't worry, we'll find some way to stop the infection, I promise." Rebecca wished she could really believe that.

"Rebecca!" Richard slammed into her and she tumbled across the floor. She looked back to see the one-armed monster slashing away at Richard. Rebecca ripped her gun from its holster and began firing at the monster. It looked up from Richard's bleeding form and then rushed her. She felt her back slam against the cool stone behind her. She dropped the gun and grabbed the monsters only remaining wrist. She thought that only having one arm would hinder the creature, but it was still extremely strong, and apparently extremely aggressive. She was forced to hold its one wrist with both hands, leaving her wide open when the monster opened its mouth and went for her throat.

A single gunshot rang out, and Rebecca felt warm, thick blood spray her neck and face. She stifled a scream and pushed the limp creature away from her. She scrambled over to Richard before looking to see who had killed the monster. The calm and collected face of Albert Wesker greeted her. Without his practically trademark sunglasses, he had a very calming look. His crystal blue eyes were very soothing, but also seemed to hold a very dark secret.

"Are you okay?"

Jill couldn't believe what she was seeing. After following a path they found in yet another courtyard, they found a rather large residence behind the mansion. After a little investigating, they found a ladder hidden behind a bookcase in one of the rooms. The ladder led them to a very plain hallway made of solid concreted, probably with steel beams for support. As they moved down the hall, they came to a set of steel doors. The hallway began to dip down in front of the doors, and the room beyond was obviously flooded. They had proceeded through the doors, and now found themselves waist deep in water. A catwalk made a ring around the circular room. In the middle of the room, was a circular tank, which was shattered.

"What do you think that used to hold?" Chris asked.

Jill was entirely focused on something else, something moving swiftly towards them in the water, "Chris, run!" She grabbed his arm and began pulling him to the nearest door. Everything whipped by in a blur. Within seconds, they had lunged into yet another set of steel doors. They quickly made their way down a long ladder, leading them to what appeared to be a control room. Jill looked around, and quickly realized that they were trapped. The only other door leading outside was held closed by the immense water pressure on the other side. She looked at Chris, hoping that he had a plan, when suddenly one of the sharks slammed into the large window dominating most of the wall.

"Fuck!" Jill exclaimed, her heart couldn't take much more of this shit. Despite her age, she was almost positive that she was going to die of a heart attack before the night was over. Suddenly, a woman's voice began blaring through a speaker in he corner of the room.

"Warning! Excess pressure detected. Please drain tanks immediately." Chris began reading over every bit of information displayed along the screens. Jill finally found a small diagram tapped to a wall.

"Chris! It's the lever over there!"

"Warning! Critical pressure has reached 10%."

"It won't fucking move!" Chris jumped as the sharks slammed into the glass again; the small spider-web of cracks growing to reach from corner to corner. Jill began scanning the instructions scribbled in the corner.

"Safety! They put a fucking safety switch on a fucking _safety_ mechanism!"

"Warning! Critical pressure reaching 30%. For safety measures, all doors will now be sealed."

"How the hell is that supposed to help if were going to be drowned?" Chris screamed. Jill was beginning to wonder if Umbrella was trying to keep their employees safe, or send them to an early grave, assuming Umbrella was the culprit, after all. Jill reread the diagram to make sure she was about to press the right button. There was an audible click, and then Chris jerked the lever downward. Instead of draining the water, like the diagram had said, a metal shutter began moving slowly down the window, and not the one the glass was pounding its skull against. Suddenly, only have way down, the shutter stopped moving.

"Oil pressure below required level." Was flashing in bright oranges letters across the screen.

"SONOFABITCH!" Jill breathed. She looked around frantically, trying to find anything that looked like it had anything to do with oil. She ran quickly around a corner, and sitting in an alcove, was a small set of what looked like boilers. She began flipping random switches, and eventually, the shutter moved back up. Jill ran to press the safety release again, and Chris pulled the lever, just as the shark began another attack. This time, a shutter moved down for both windows.

"Critical pressure reaching 70%" Jill heard class crack again, and then a shattering sound. Water began streaming from under the metal shutter, and Jill quickly jumped to the control panel and hit the largest red button on the control panel.

"Water drainage activated…" Jill heard the roaring of water being sucked into a large hole or something, and the leaking stopped. She let out a heavy sigh and collapsed to the ground.

"What the fuck is going on in this FUCKING MANSION!?" Chris screamed, also collapsing to the ground.

"Something we need evidence to prove. No one is going to believe us. We're going to need solid proof, not just pieces of paper." Jill said, her eyes closed, and her head resting against one of the large console that filled the room.

"Damn straight. I wonder if Rebecca's okay…"

Jill had forgotten about Rebecca and Richard in her panic stricken state, "You don't think Richard turned into one of those things do you?"

"He seemed pretty healthy when we left them, all things considered," Chris said, obviously trying to calm Jill down. Chris scooted closer to her, and pulled her to his chest. She rest her head on him, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Everything's gonna be alright. We're gonna make it out of here, all of us." Jill wished, with all of her heart, that she could believe him, but she knew that someone was going to die before they left, and it would be soon.

Rebecca sat on the cold stone steps of the hidden tomb. She had calmed down since the attack, but she was still worried about Richard. Instead of coagulating, like the last wounds had, this new wound wouldn't stop bleeding, the old ones were even bleeding again. If they didn't do something soon, Richard would bleed to death.

"Rebecca, I found this pistol lying around the mansion, is it yours?" Wesker asked. Rebecca took it gratefully and inspected it. The green STARS logo on the grip was the only distinguishing feature.

"Yes, thank you," she didn't know what else to say. Thank you didn't quite cover the amount of gratitude she felt, but no other word seemed to fit the situation. "You're my hero," was definitely not the proper thing to say, so she settled for the general term. "Richard, how ya holding up?"

"I feel like shit. My skin's itching like fucking crazy, and everything's fuzzy."

"You need to rest, you shouldn't have come with me. We shouldn't have even split up," Rebecca felt tears stinging the back of her eyes, and she tried to hold them back.

"Split up?" Wesker asked.

"We had been with Chris and Jill, but they went to find other ways out, and we don't know what happened to them."

"I know where they are. I saw them earlier," Wesker said.

"Could you take us to them? Richard's in no condition to use a gun, and that's really not my area of expertise," Rebecca said. Wesker agreed, and began leading them to the residence, a place he had only been to on a few previous occasion, all of them before 1998.

Barry stood outside the door to room 002. He had dropped a thin packet in front of the door, hoping that Jill or Chris would notice it when they came back through. It was the least he could do to help them, he was supposed to be trying to kill them, after all. The packet was a rather detailed report on Plant 42, and even listed the chemicals necessary to kill the thing, but not direct instruction on how to combine the chemicals. Barry's conscience was eating away at him, but he kept telling himself, it was for his family. Finally, he decided to leave. He thought he should probably check the other door in the storage shed.

Jill stepped into the murky water, carefully walking around he enormous great white shark lying, apparently dead, in the shallow water. She quickly pulled herself onto the small platform, and sent a reassuring smile back at Chris on the other side. She had convinced him to let her check the panel out, as she was more agile and much faster. She didn't see anything interesting, other than a small key hanging from an open panel. As she reached for the key, the giant shark wiggled around violently, and took a bite at Jill. The panel holding the key was snapped in half, and fell into the water.

Thinking quickly, not even hearing Chris scream her name, Jill slid some machine into the water and then flipped a large switch. The water boiled fiercely, and the great white twitched violently. The smell of burnt flesh quickly filled the air, and finally the electric buzz died down. Jill cautiously stuck a finger in the water. The charge had died quickly, making it safe for her to jump into the water. She quickly grabbed the key and ran back to Chris, who wrapped his arms around her and placed a tender kiss on her cheek.

"Let's get the hell out of here. There has to be something of importance in those other rooms, and we should check them fast, then leave," Jill said quickly.

"Right, let's get back to investigating." The two made their way back to the housing area of the residence. As Jill stepped out of the door, she nearly slipped on a thin packet of papers. She bent down and picked them up, quickly scanning over the pages.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"What?" Chris asked, trying to read over Jill's shoulder.

"According to this, there's a giant plant growing from the ceiling somewhere in this building. It has a list of chemicals needed to kill the roots, but it doesn't say how to mix them. There somewhere in the gallery, and the roots are back underground."

"Well, as long as we don't find the plant, we wont' need to worry about it, will we?" Chris smiled, a weak, forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. They unlocked the Gallery, and threw the key into some corner of the hall, before continuing their search of the residence. Nothing interesting, other than an enormous beehive was located in the hall. The two found the room filled with the chemicals necessary to kill Plant 42, but didn't waste any time in actually making the compound. They investigated another of the resident's rooms, but found nothing of interest, and eventually, they were left with the double doors at the end of the Gallery. They opened the doors, and regretted the decision immediately. Two thick vines wrapped around them and threw them into the air. They slammed against the ceiling, and got a glimpse of an enormous pink flower bulb growing from the ceiling, before being slammed against opposite walls by the same vines. Jill saw the doors open again, and she made a run for it.

She threw herself over the rail and then ran as fast as she could. She ripped the packet from her pocket and unfolded it, then shoved it into Rebecca's hands.

"Formula's on the back page, equation's written on the wall of the storage room. Roots are in room 002, go down the ladder. Hurry!" Jill spat the words out in a rush, and Rebecca could barely keep up. Jill suddenly pushed Rebecca back through the doorway. Rebecca got a glimpse of a thick vine slamming into Jill's head, and then the doors were slammed shut again.

Rebecca quickly flipped to the last page and began reading the list of chemicals. After memorizing the list and their characteristics, she began searching for the storage room, which didn't take long. Lucky for her someone had wrecked the control panel beside the door, or she wouldn't have been able to get in. She looked for the equation Jill was talking about, which also didn't take long. It was written in white pain on the wall next to the door. Rebecca quickly processed what each number stood for, her only problem being the one, which turned out to be water. She quickly assembled the potion and began her search for room 002.

She slid down the ladder rather than climb, and ran to the aqua ring. She had stuck her head in each door along the way, not sure which one contained the roots. She nearly screamed when she finally found the roots, but quickly went into action, before realizing she didn't know how to _apply_ the chemical. She settled on shielding her eyes, and sloshing the poison onto the plant, which seemed to actually work. Within a fraction of a second of contact, the roots began to shake violently, and then shrivel into dried brown sticks. She breathed a sigh of relief, and then began the run back to Jill and Chris.

Richard sat on the edge of a dirty bed in room 003, with Wesker pacing back and forth along the hard wood floor. Each time he took a step, the floor would creak. Richard was already very irritable, most likely a side affect of infection, and the creaking was tearing at his last nerve.

"Take one more step, and I'll rip your goddamn feet off," he spat.

"Richard, I honestly don't think you're in the position to be making threats." The soft _click_ of a gun hammer being pulled back forced Richard to look up, and the second he did, Wesker shot him in the chest. Richard coughed once as blood filled his lungs, and then he crumpled, sliding off the bed and onto the floor. A crimson flower began to bloom around the hole in Richard's back. Wesker had shot Richard in the chance so that he would rise again as one of the undead out of pure hope that Jill would see him. It would break her heart.

"I'm sorry, but I have a strict deadline, and babysitting something as pathetic as you was cutting into my schedule. Maybe you'll amount to something greater in your second life, then again, I doubt you'll get past the brain-dead monster stage." Wesker chuckled lightly as he exited the room. Rebecca would undoubtedly be back soon, he would have to move fast. His brain was already fabricating the story he would tell them about Richard.

_He just pulled a gun on me, claiming that he was an agent of Umbrella. I had no choice._

That would keep them off his trail for a while anyway, then he would need to start implicating his next scapegoat, Barry Burton.

Jill lay on the ground, breathless, as Rebecca checked Chris for any severe wounds. Jill and Chris had spent the last ten minutes trying to dodge that damned plant's attacks, when finally, it turned a sick, brown color and began to crumble. Jill thought she might have heard a gunshot a few minutes ago, but dismissed it as that plant slamming against the wall.

"Oh, Jill. You can have your gun back, Captain Wesker found mine lying around the mansion somewhere. Thanks though, really, Richard and I would've died if you hadn't given it to me."

"Captain Wesker? You found Wesker?"

"Yeah, he's waiting for me with Richard in room 003."The three of them rushed to room 003, only to find Richard lying in a puddle of his own blood, with a single bullet hole in his back.

"Richard…no, NO!" Jill screamed. She dropped to her knees and pulled Richard from the ground, sobbing into his chest. Suddenly, she felt warm breathe against her neck, "Richard?" Chris pulled her back and kicked Richard away as he went for her throat. Jill didn't hesitate, that body, wasn't occupied by her friend any longer. She grabbed the gun Rebecca had just given back and pulled the trigger once, and that was all it took. A single bullet slammed into Richard's skull, and he collapsed. Chris helped Jill up, and the three of them stood there for a few seconds, sort of dazed, before Rebecca spoke.

"What happened to Wesker?"

AN: So, Richard's dead, our heroes are reunited, and Wesker is finally setting his plans into motion. What lies ahead for our heroes? More death, more monsters, and definitely more twists. Thanks to all my loyal readers, your comments really do help. It's great to know that someone likes your writing, as most of you probably know. (And btw, I'm sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes, I try to find them all, but for one, I'm a Sophomore in high school and another, Microsoft Word is somewhat retarded, so I rarely trust it's judgement.)


	6. Chapter 6

AN: So, Richard's dead, groups back together, Wesker's evil and has a superiority complex. Think that about catches us up to speed. Oh, and by the way, for anyone interested, assuming I get this done before then, The Raccoon Incident (a working title, and I will take suggestions), should begin around December or January. It will follow the events of RE2 and 3 in chronological order, with a few extra, small subplots added in.

Barry stepped into the small, dusty cabin. He was looking for one of those damned emblems Wesker needed to get to the lab entrance. He thought one of them would be in the residence, but apparently, the only thing there was a damn key, which he gave to Wesker before her left. Barry worked his way up a small set of stairs and into a back room of the cabin. On a desk against the wall, Barry found a torn family photo. Worry washed over him as his won family flitted through his mind. The feeling was washed away by a wave of guilt. What would his family think of what he was doing? He shook the thought clear and began focusing on the mission at hand; it was to protect them, after all.

The door slammed and Barry spun around, Magnum clutched tight in his hands. He slowly walked towards the stairs. His body moved through the small doorway, and then he was out. As he fell, he caught a glimpse of a torn face that didn't belong on the body it was attached to. His large body slammed to the floor, and a small stream of blood began dribbling from the gash on his head.

Lisa Trevor stood over her victim. An inhuman moan escaped the remains of her lips as she drug him down the steps and then dropped his body in the middle of the floor. Just a new face to add to her collection. She heard the body stir behind her, and began to turn around. By the time she was facing the man, his finger was on the trigger. There was a loud _BANG_ as the .44 round slapped into her chest. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, blood leaking from the hole. She shrieked again as a slim tentacle burst form the hole, whipping around the room as if it had a mind of its own. Lisa shrieked yet again as another bullet slammed into her, this time a fatal shot…for any normal human. Blood streamed from the hole in her face as she advanced on her attacker. Her shackled hands rose over her head, and she brought them down with crushing force.

Barry dolled out of the way as the monster swung her hands down. Barry heard the floor crumble beneath the blow, but he never looked back. Wesker hadn't told him much about any of the creatures, but he had given him enough information to stay alive. That fucking _abomination_, however, was new to him. Barry tapped the small earpiece, a gift form Wesker. He had told Barry that it was a private line, no one else would be able to pick it up.

"Barry, now isn't the time," Wesker hissed.

"Fuck that! You kept fucking Leather Face from me, so now you have to pay with your precious ass time," Barry retorted, in what almost seemed to be a more aggressive tone than Wesker's.

"Ah, you met Lisa did you? I'd heard rumors they couldn't ever find a way to dispose of her. Looks like one of us will have to do it," Wesker said. His voice was calm and even, as if fighting movie monsters was something he did every day.

"You mean _you're_ going to have to do it."

"Barry, you will do what I say, or you're home will become Swiss cheese, understand?" Barry stopped moving. Wesker hadn't ever told him exactly how he planned to kill his family, but now it was painfully clear.

"Understood," he said, defeated. He tapped the earpiece again and began running back to the courtyard. He needed to investigate the tunnel he had passed earlier. His mind began racing for a way to save his family without killing his friends, but he couldn't think of anything, and instead began focusing on what lay ahead.

Jill still sat next to Richard's cold body. She knew that the only person who could have done this was Wesker, and she hated him for it. The minute she found him, she would kill him, no questions asked. She would shoot him through the chest, pray that he was infected, and then leave his rotting corpse to wander the grounds of this place until a clean-up crew came running through and killed him. She had tried to convince Chris and Rebecca to go one ahead, that she would catch up, but they wouldn't move farther than through the door. She said her final goodbye to her long-time friend, and then left.

"Jill, are you okay?" Chris asked, his hand touching her arm, moving down to squeeze her hand.

"I'll be fine when Wesker dies." As the small group began to make their way through the residence, back to the mansion, they heard a whispered, one-sided conversation. Jill recognized the voice first, mostly because she was expecting him to show up anywhere. Jill ran around the corner, her gun already raised in front of her.

"Wesker! You son of a bitch!" she screamed, her finger hovering over the trigger, burning with the desire to tighten ever so slightly and end hat rat-bastard's life.

"Jill! Wait! You don't understand, he pulled a gun on me first! He threatened to kill me!" Wesker said in a rush, praying Jill wouldn't shoot him. That would take his careful planning and burn it all to ash.

"What?" Jill's voice was quivering. Her hands began to shake, and tears were forming in her blue eyes.

"He told me that he worked for Umbrella, that he was here to gather data on their experiments, and that he was supposed to destroy STARS. He was going to kill us all, even you Jill," Wesker had calmed down entirely, he had the upper hand now. Wesker quickly eyed the other two standing behind Jill. They had bought it as well.

"That's…THAT'S RIDICULOUS! RICHARD WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT! Richard was kind, and he- he wouldn't, no, _couldn't_ do that to us, to me!" Jill was sobbing now, tears pouring from her eyes, her breathing ragged and strained. Chris knelt down and put his arms around her, whispering something in her ear.

"Jill, why don't you come with me. I'm going to meet Barry in the tunnel we passed earlier, back in the courtyard," Wesker offered, his voice as kind as he could possibly get it.

"Sounds good, Jill, you should go get Barry, and then we can focus on getting out of here. Rebecca and I can manage getting the rest of those doors open in the mansion," Chris whispered quickly in her ear, placing a light kiss on her cheek after.

"..Fine," She sniffed, wiping the tears from her cheeks, steadying her breathing.

Wesker walked over to Chris and pulled something from his pocket, a silver and rusted key, "Take this. It should unlock a few doors in that damned mansion. We'll meet up with you soon." Chris nodded quickly, and then knelt to kiss Jill one more time, "Be careful, I can't lose anyone else, especially not you." Chris straightened up and then grabbed Rebecca's arm before pulling her down the hall and through the door.

The minute they were out of earshot, Chris leaned close to Rebecca, whispering just to be safe, "I don't trust Wesker. He's a great liar, just not a great actor. He didn't pull off the emotional part very well."

"I was thinking the same thing. But he wouldn't kill Jill, I mean, he wouldn't be able to pull off the same story with her. We all say how she reacted to Richard's death, and that little speech Wesker gave," Rebecca whispered back.

"Still, if they don't come to meet us within fifteen minutes, we go after them."

"Agreed." The two quickly ran back to the mansion, ignoring the tunnel that Jill and Wesker would be entering. Just feet away form the door leading back into the mansion, Chris stopped dead, as a screech pierced the night air.

"The hell?" He mumbled, mostly to himself. The screech was followed by a clunking and scraping sound coming from the cement roof, covering the stone path. Suddenly, chunks of stone burst from the cover. A small hole had been punched through the cement. Chris pushed Rebecca behind him as a set of five, long, and yellowed claws shot through the opening. This time, they curled around to grab the cement, and ripped upward, widening the hole and sending debris flying into the air. The creature that fell through the hole was terrifying.

It was short, but threatening nonetheless. It was obviously reptilian, but had certain, well-hidden human aspects. The creature walked on only two legs, with clawed feet. It had two arms, each as wide around as Chris's thigh. The fingers of the hands were tipped with long, yellow-tinged claws. Its face was more reptilian than anything, with a smashed in face, and no neck. It had a wide mouth lined with tiny, sharp needle-sharp teeth. It's yellow eyes moved in perfect synch with Chris's slow movements. To top things off, was a nice layer of green scales. The thing was obviously a predator, a Hunter. With a shriek, it launched itself at Chris.

Jill moved quickly down the ladder. She already had a plan. Wesker had obviously been lying. He had made one critical mistake in his nearly flawless lie: Richard didn't have a gun anywhere near his body, and Wesker still only had his. Richard couldn't have tried to shoot him. Jill was going to wait until Wesker wasn't paying any attention at all, and then she would kill him, by any means necessary. She dropped down the last few rungs, landing smoothly on the uneven stone ground.

"Barry should be around here somewhere, he couldn't have gone far," Wesker said. He appeared to be about to say something else, when a gunshot rang throughout the halls. Wesker took off running, with Jill right behind him. She wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings; she was focused solely on the fact that Wesker seemed to know _exactly_ where he was going.

_Has he been here before? Of course dumbass, how the hell else would he have been able to set you up if he was off his game?_ After what could only have been seconds, Jill saw that Wesker was standing still, with a figure lying in front of him.

"Enrico?" Jill gasped, walking forward.

"Jill, Wesker. Thank God I can at least warn someone. Barry, he's a traitor. He set us up! He planned all of this!"

Jill realized that there was a rather large hole in Enrico's stomach. Obviously the job of a high-caliber weapon, Barry's magnum.

"Enrico, you're sure that Barry set us up? Earlier, I had to kill Richard. he said that _he_ had set us up. Maybe Barry is just being forced to do this."

"Maybe, but it's more likely they're working together." Enrico's eyes widened, and then a deafening roar bounced around the caves. Blood and brain splashed against the cave wall, and Enrico slumped to the cold, stone floor. Jill jumped up to chase after Barry, but Wesker grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't. Maybe Barry didn't hear our conversation; maybe we can make him think we don't know. We can catch up to him, act like nothing's happened, and then grab him when he's dropped his guard."

"Only if he's retarded! Come on Wesker, you can't possibly think he didn't hear any of that, or at the least that we realized he's the only one with that caliber of gun!"

"Jill, clam down. I doubt thing's are going as Barry planned. It'll be easy to lull him into a sense of security, assuming he's under as much stress as I think he is."

"How do you have any idea how he's feeling?"

"Never mind that, let's go!"

Chris slammed the iron gate closed behind them, not that he thought it would stop that fucking thing. He was right. With a groan, the gate was ripped from its hinges and the hideous creature leapt into view. Chris immediately opened fire, and Rebecca followed suit. The monster lunged at Rebecca, but Chris kicked at the monstrosity seconds before it slashed at her face, slamming it into a wall. Rebecca quickly lunged forward, took a flash grenade, (which Chris didn't know she'd had) and shoved it into the creatures mouth. She backed away, and pulled Chris with her. The monster bit down on the metal canister, and under the pressure, it exploded. Shrapnel flew up through the roof of the Hunter's mouth and into its brain, killing it instantly.

"Where did you get that?" Chris huffed.

"Found it in that lab with the plant roots," She said, a smile spreading across her face, "I was saving it for an occasion like that one. I'm surprised it worked though, didn't think it would actually have shrapnel, being a flash grenade and all…" she stopped, her cheeks flushing. "Sorry, I talk a lot when I get nervous."

"Don't worry about it, my sister does the same thing."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, her name's Claire. She's going to college right now." Their conversation was cut short as more screeches erupted from various points in the mansion.

"How'd they get in here?" Rebecca asked, her voice rising a few octaves.

"Probably through windows or something. We have to go. And I hate to say this, but we can't wait for the others, we'll find them later." As soon as the sentence was finished, a Hunter burst through a door to their right. Chris grabbed Rebecca's arm and took of running. He didn't have any real plan, he just needed time to think, and he couldn't do it with those freaks running around.

Jill couldn't believe what she was hearing. Barry was actually buying this. He had no fucking clue that they knew he was a traitor. The three of them were riding an elevator even deeper into the mines that they already were. The elevator finally stopped, and Wesker and Jill stepped off the platform. As Barry took his first step, an inhuman shriek filled the tunnels. Barry looked at Wesker and Jill. As Jill was focused on the door the sound had come form, Wesker nodded to Barry. Barry slammed his palm against the button, and the elevator began to rise, leaving Jill and Wesker trapped with the monster.

"Barry! What the fuck are you doing?!" Jill felt herself unraveling at the seams; she was losing her coo, something she rarely did. But she had to allow herself a little room to freak; after all, she was living in a nightmare right now. "Still think he trusted us?" Jill spat at Wesker.

"I don't appreciate your attitude _Valentine_. I'm just asking for a little cooperation to kill…whatever that thing was." Jill grudgingly agreed. The duo moved slowly through the metal door, walking cautiously down the tunnel. As they rounded a corner, Jill froze, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop form screaming. Even Wesker's eyes widened in fear.

"Lisa Trevor," he whispered, "She can't be harmed by conventional methods, we have to run, and now!" Wesker grabbed Jill's arm and pulled her past the monstrosity. Multiple faces were sewn on over the monster's…Lisa's. She was wearing a tattered blue dress. A medieval device made of wood held her hands together. Her ankles were shackled together, and chains hung loosely from her wrists. It took only a few seconds to process that Wesker had _known_ what the thing's name was, had _known_ that bullets wouldn't affect it. Jill jerked her arm from Wesker's grasp.

"How the hell do you know what that thing is? How did you know we couldn't hurt it?" Jill shrieked at him.

"Not now! We have to gt away form her! She'll kill us both!" Wesker grabbed her arm again and led her through a set of rusted metal doors. The doors led to a makeshift room, with candles lit all over the place and a blood stained rug on the cobblestone floor.

"What the hell…?" Jill breathed, and then Wesker was dragging her behind him again. They ran through a tight tunnel filled with water, which led to an extension of the first room, this one equipped with a blood stained bed to match the blood stained rug. Jill realized that Wesker had let go of her arm, and she looked to see what he was doing. He had a jewelry box in his hands, and instead of trying to solve the simple puzzle it required to open it, he slammed it on the ground, and then grabbed the stone and metal medallion lying in the remnants of the box.

"Come one, I got what I needed." Wesker led her to a rusted ladder, and then began climbing up it himself. Jill followed, not wanting to get into a fight with that freak of nature. The ladder led to a small walkway, which led to yet another ladder. Jill climbed up behind Wesker, not daring to allow him to get behind her. That ladder led to a small, dilapidated cabin. Dust covered every inch of the place, but Jill didn't have time to take in the rest of the scenery, as Wesker was rushing off again. Jill followed, and eventually, the trail outside the cabin led the two back to the small storage shed just outside the mansion. Jill wouldn't have another opportunity to confront Wesker.

As he walked to the door, Jill ran behind him, hooked her left arm under his left armpit, and her right around his neck. "Start talking. How the fuck did you know about that thing?" Jill spat in his ear.

"Simple, Jill. I work for Umbrella, and they created that work of art," he replied in a calm tone. Suddenly, Wesker jerked his head back, slamming it into Jill's forehead. Jill loosened her grip only slightly, before tightening it yet again and slamming her knee into the back of Wesker's. Wesker crumpled, but used his weight to his advantage. He used the force of his falling, and flung Jill over his head. She landed hard on the cement floor. Wesker stopped at the space where her head had been only seconds before. Jill quickly pulled her gun from its holster, or rather, Barry's gun. Wesker grabbed her wrist just as her finger touched the trigger and twisted. Jill dropped the gun with a scream, and then pulled her own weapon with her left hand, firing at Wesker. Jill's aim was off, as she's right handed, and the shots went wide. Wesker's open palm slammed into Jill's stomach, causing her to stumble backwards. Wesker kicked at the gun in Jill's hand, sending it into the air.

Jill felt her back touch the cool stone wall. She ducked just as Wesker's foot skidded across the wall. Jill slid her knife form its sheath on her belt, and slashed at Wesker's stomach. A clean slit in the fabric opened up as Wesker jerked back. Through the cut, Jill could see a thin red line that ran across Wesker's stomach. She twisted the blade so that the tip was pointing upward. She lunged up, planning to slide the blade straight into the bottom of Wesker's mouth. Wesker had anticipated the move the second she switched the blade's position. Wesker jumped back, and as the blade rushed upward, he forced his foot into Jill's stomach, sending her flying backward. She slammed into the wall rather roughly, and then crumpled to the floor. Wesker walked over to her, then kicked her in the ribs, hard. Jill could almost swear one of them broke. Wesker grabbed her by the hair, and then slammed the side of her head into the wall. Jill's eyes fluttered as she fell to the ground, and then they closed, and she drifted into nothing.

**AN: Decided that a fight scene would spice things up, however, I know have to push my second favorite female character into the background for a few chapters. But, sacrifice is necessary to make things interesting. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. (I'd kinda like to know how many "you all" is, so please, leave a review.) Thanks to my loyal readers! Oh, and to anyone that cares, this will be my last chapter written under freedom, as school starts Monday.**


	7. Chapter 7

AN: For some reason, some of the bold font reverts back to regular font when I upload the chapter, so for anyone who is annoyed by the AN blending in with the actual story, I apologize. Now that that's outta the way, welcome back for another thrilling installment of Dragon Ball- wait, wrong announcer, sorry for the mishap. (Horrible joke, I know.) You guys know what you're reading, so I don't think an Intro is necessary.

Chris and Rebecca had found a door on the second floor requiring their new key. It had led to a simple enough trap. The minute a person stepped on the pressure-sensitive floor, the walls would begin to close in on them. A statue was placed at the front of the floor, just before it would touch. One simply had to push the statue along with them to keep from getting crushed. Then the other would run behind the wall, push a hidden button, and the other would push the statue back up to its required space, deactivating the trap, and opening a hidden door. Once inside the small, damp room, Chris and Rebecca found a small hole in the floor, leading to a fake gravestone. A book, titled: _The Last Book, Vol. 1_ was lying on the tombstone. Chris opened the heavy book to find a golden emblem lying in a square cut out. An eagle decorated the medal.

"Wonder what it's for?" Rebecca asked, getting slightly irritated at the ridiculous puzzles the mansion held.

"Undoubtedly something overly complicated and completely out of place," Chris said, sharing the same irritation as Rebecca. Chris began trying to think of the beginning of their mission, and realized that he couldn't remember anything clearly that happened before the sharks. He sighed heavily, and rubbed at his aching eyes. A migraine was building up behind his eyes, and slowly spreading all through his head.

"You okay?" Rebecca asked, not wanting to take any chances when it came to the virus they were dealing with.

"Yeah, just a headache. I get migraines from time to time."

"Oh, sorry, but I don't have any pain killers."

"Don't worry about it. With any luck, we'll be out of here by daybreak," Chris reassured her, and winked. Chris shifted his weight, and felt something slide down under his foot. The tombstone began sliding back, revealing a ladder. Chris gave Rebecca a what-the-fuck-now-look, and then slid down the ladder, with Rebecca close behind. The ladder led them to a boring, gray hallway. Water was standing on the floor. The two walked only a few feet down the hall, when Chris stopped Rebecca.

"What?"

"I hear something moving," Chris said, tilting his head to hear better. It sounded like coarse cloth rustling, but he couldn't be sure. He took another few steps, and an enormous spider crawled around the corner on the ceiling. The spider was easily the size of a motorcycle, and definitely a tarantula. Chris heard Rebecca squeak behind him, and realized that she was probably terrified of spiders. Chris wasted no time in ripping his gun from its holster and unloading in the thing. Green slime leaked from the holes in the arachnid. The spider dropped from the ceiling, landing on its back, and curled into itself.

"Not to hard to deal with. Don't fight back do they?" Chris asked, nudging Rebecca, trying to get her to lighten up a little.

"Yeah. I'm sure they would have to get closer to attack," Rebecca whispered. They continued down the hall, only having to deal with two more of the giant spiders. Chris eventually found a power generator and turned it on. The generator powered an elevator that the two found just through a door, not ten feet away.

Chris and Rebecca rode the elevator up in silence, both trying to prepare for whatever might be waiting. The elevator led to a small hallway, ending in a set of double doors, and then a small wooden door at the other end. They chose the double doors. Chris looked around the large library, looking for anything out of place. He jumped when Rebecca screamed, and spun around, his gun in front of him. What he saw sent shivers up his spine. A giant snake, at least ten yards in length, was slithering towards Rebecca. Suddenly, the monster rose up, poised to strike. Chris ran at Rebecca and tackled her, the snake slamming into the tile rather than killing Rebecca.

"That's the same fucking snake that bit Richard!" Rebecca pulled her gun and began firing away. The bullets bit into the snake's scales, but didn't seem to be causing that much damage.

"Rebecca, aim for its eyes and mouth!" Chris began firing at the creature too, trying to blind it unless it opened its mouth. The snake wasn't making it easy, as it slithered around the library. Chris rolled away just as the creature struck at the floor. Chris looked around for Rebecca, and found her climbing up a ladder. She began screaming at the snake, shooting at it, but not hitting it. The snake slither toward the small balcony she was standing on. Chris saw a smirk on Rebecca's face as she began firing at a chandelier just above the snake's head. The light chain snapped, and the chandelier fell on the snake's head, thin, pointed pieces breaking off into the snake's skull. The creature shrieked and began thrashing around, slamming into one of the bookcases, and then collapsing, dead.

Rebecca jumped down onto the ground. "Hey, maybe we can find volume two of that book." Rebecca said, indicating the medal in Chris's pocket.

"Maybe." The two began searching the shelves, and the pile of books knocked from their place by the snake's thrashing. Finally, Rebecca found the book in the pile. She opened it, and found a silver medal decorated with a wolf.

"Hope volume two is the last book," Rebecca said, sighing. Chris gave her a sharp look, and she smiled. The two made their way from the library and decided to check the other door, hoping it would lead to an exit, or a the very least, a key ring with all of the puzzles solutions on it.

Brad looked down at the forest, trying to find any sign of life. But so far, nothing. He was terrified that his comrades had died because of _him_. Of course it was his fault if they were dead. He was their only means of escape, and he had left them. The minute he heard gunshots, the idea slipped into his head, and the second he saw one of those mutated monstrosities, he started the chopper, and took off. Now, he was going to fix his error, his mistake…

_Stop kidding yourself._

His fuck-up. He would do everything in his power to find and rescue the remaining STARS members. He grabbed the radio and began calling for anyone who could hear him. "This is Brad Vickers of STARS Alpha Team. If there are any surviving members of STARS, please, send me a sign. Anything you can do. I repeat, if there are _any_ survivors, send me a sign!" Maybe they could hear him; maybe he could save them. Surely that would make up for his mistake.

Chris was mashing buttons on his radio, trying to contact Brad. So far, he could only get static. His radio must have been screwed up sometime after they arrived in the mansion.

"We're need to find another way to reach him. Maybe they'll have flares or something if we could get to the roof," Rebecca said. Her face was twisted into a look of disbelief. Obviously, she didn't believe what she was saying. Chris let his mind wander as the two began moving towards the set of iron gates located under the stairs in the main hall. Chris and Rebecca both had guessed that the two emblems they had might fit the indentations on the gate.

Wesker had gotten Barry to carry Jill's unconscious form around the mansion as he moved swiftly to the iron gates under the stairs. He set the two stone and metal emblems into the octagonal depressions. A soft _click_ echoed down the tunnel behind the gate. Wesker pushed the gate open and began moving down the stairs. He heard a soft murmur come from Jill. They didn't have long before she would wake up. Wesker's current plan was riding all on the hope that those paranoid scientists hadn't somehow removed the Wolf and Eagle metals from their places. If they were missing, Wesker's careful planning would be blown to shit, and he would have to search the whole damned mansion to find them.

As Wesker slid down the ladder, he heard voices from above, and they didn't belong to Barry or Jill.

"Fucking _great_," Wesker snarled. If Chris and Rebecca saw Jill unconscious in Barry's arms, and Wesker with him, things would become thirty times more difficult. Barry slid Jill down and Wesker caught her, then lay her on the damp stone altar the ladder led to. The altar was square, and didn't quite fill up the entire cave. It was surrounded on all sides by nothingness. A bottomless pit was all that awaited anyone who fell. As Barry slid down the ladder, Wesker began barking orders.

"Go to that elevator, then send it back down. Take Jill with you, she doesn't need to be seen right now." Barry obeyed, and grabbed Jill, then jogged to the elevator and began his ascent. Wesker began walking forward, when a very unexpected guest blocked his path. A rusted hatch normally hidden under the small, circular lift burst open, and Lisa Trevor jumped through. She screeched and then advanced on Wesker, slowly waddling towards him. He backed away slowly, reaching for his Samurai Edge. He slid the gun out of its holster, then trained the weapon on Lisa.

"Wesker! Where's Ji- What the fuck is that?" Wesker could hear Chris pull his gun from its holster, followed by the sound of more feet.

"No time for conversation, we have to kill that thing!" Wesker was careful to avoid acting like he knew anything about it. The slightest clue and they would never let him leave their sight, alive anyway. Wesker began unloading rounds into the creature, each bullet sinking into Lisa's skin with only the slightest bit of blood. Chris and Rebecca were firing at the monstrosity behind him. There was no way to stop her with conventional weaponry, so Wesker was trying to think of a plan.

_A fall? Doubt it, but maybe this pit is deep enough to break her spine…_ It was his only chance.

"She isn't even flinching! What the fuck do we do?" Chris sounded panicked, but the rookie wasn't speaking. That was Redfield, emotional, impatient, and rash. He would be easy to manipulate later on…

"Maybe if we can knock it off this platform we can kill it," Wesker offered, his tone that of a very panicked individual with only slight traces of confidence in their plan, just as he wanted it. Wesker had been wondering since they arrived what was inside the stone tomb lying in the middle of the altar. Probably worthless crap. He set his mind back on track and began firing rounds into Lisa's legs. She crumpled once, fell to one knee, and Wesker acted. He rushed her, planning to send a kick at her face and fling her back off the edge, but she was faster. She swung upward with her shackled hands. Wesker jumped up, pushing off the tomb to help himself over it. Lisa slammed her clubbed fists on the tomb, shattering a large portion of it. The monster let out a moan unlike any other Wesker had heard from her before.

"MOOOO---THEEEEEE---RRRRRRRR!" Her raping voice croaked out. Lisa reached down into the tomb and grabbed the skeleton's skull. She then turned around and began walking towards the edge of the platform, and then straight over the drop. The three of them stood on the platform in silence for a minute at the least, and not a single one of them heard Lisa hit the ground.

"Wesker, we found these emblems. Do you know where they go?" Rebecca asked, breaking the silence. She was extending a silver and gold emblem to him, the exact ones he needed to get to the lower labs. He took them from her hands, glanced down, and then acted on a plan devised in only three seconds. He shoved his fist into Rebecca's chest, sending her stumbling back, dangerously close to the edge, and then toppling over. Wesker turned and ran for the lift, which had come down just seconds after Lisa's entrance. He slammed his palm on the button and never looked back.

Chris tightened his grip on Rebecca's wrist, and hers tightened as well. He pulled with every ounce of strength, and she finally slid back onto the platform. The two sat for only a second, catching their breath, and then they were running to Wesker's escape route. Rebecca found a small, well-hidden button and pressed it. The lift came crawling back down and the duo boarded. Chris pressed the button on the lift and it began crawling back up. The lift took them to a small courtyard, with what could only have been a large fountain in the middle, but now, it was a gaping hole into the dark. A set of stairs wound around it, leading to a small platform, which had once held an elevator. Chris ran down the stairs, tapping the button to call the elevator back. He turned back to Rebecca.

"You ready for this?"

"I can't be ready for something if I don't know what to expect," she breathed, "but I am ready to get the hell out of this fucking freak show. So let's go." She stepped onto the elevator and waited for Chris to get in as well. She tapped the button lightly, and the elevator began to lower them deep into the hole, deeper into hell…

**AN: So what do ya think? Going good so far? I love feedback. Anyway, to anyone that's interested. Had a very interesting end to my first week back at school. Thursday we stood on our practice field, in the Texas summer heat, for two hours after some jackass called in a bomb threat. Friday, we were evacuated to a building like two miles away from the high school because that same jackass called again. Sat in a very hot expo center from eleven to two forty, with a cheese sandwich provided for lunch, which I didn't eat as I was expecting to leave at 1:30, which is when they told us we could have someone pick us up…didn't factor in how many parents there would be… Sorry for the huge AN, but I felt like complaining to someone that didn't already know about it…**


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Unfortunately, it seems that The Mansion Incident is in its final act. I'm planning on wrapping this up with chapter 10, but it may end with 9. It all depends on how much I pack into the next two chapters, as well as how much I edit out to kept the action flowing. Now, to anyone that's interested, Claire, Leon, and Steve all have Twitter pages now…

Jill's eyes flickered open. She squinted as blinding light flooded into her vision. When her eyes finally adjusted, she realized that the cold, damp, gray room she was in was actually quite dark. She was lying on a cot in the corner of the room. Her head was pounding, and for a split second, she couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten there. And then it all came flooding back. Bravo Team, the dogs, the zombies, the sharks, plants, Wesker… Jill walked to the small, steel door, the only entrance or exit in the room, and tried to open it. Locked, and not budging an inch. She heard someone moving next to the door, and a plan ran through her mind in a split second.

"Hello?" She called. Barry stepped into view of the small, barred opening in the door. He was pale, and he had bags under his eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Why are you doing this?" A simple question, and hopefully one that would distract him. Jill lifted her leg up as high as she could without it being noticeable. She slid her hand into her boot and grabbed the lock-picks and pulled them out of her shoe. She had the pick hovering over the lock as Barry formulated his answer.

"I'm sorry Jill. I didn't want to do this, but I have to. Wesker is very…_persuasive_." As he started his sentence, Jill slid the lock-pick into the lock and began working with the tumblers. She had to move slowly to avoid making any loud noises, and not being able to see what she was doing made things that much more difficult.

"How much is he paying you?"

"What he's giving me is priceless." Jill had already picked the lock in that short exchange, and she didn't care to prolong it any longer. Barry was the enemy, no matter how long she had known him. Jill turned the knob sharply, and then swung the door outward as hard and fast as possible. The door slammed into a very surprised Barry. He stumbled back against the cement wall, and Jill acted. She sent her knee flying into his crouch, and as he fell, she shoved her knee into his face. His head jerked back and slammed into the wall. He fell to the floor, unconscious. Jill wasn't sure if her knee or the wall had knocked him out, but she didn't care. She ripped her gun from his pocket and took the few clips he had on him, then made her way around a corner and up a cement set of stairs.

Rebecca scanned the e-mail on the computer screen before her. A body was laying near the computer, covered in bite marks and scratches, with a single, neat hole in his head. Obviously, he had been infected and decided to ensure he wouldn't become one of the undead. A choice that very few of his coworkers had made. Apparently, Chris and Rebecca had found the lab Jill had mentioned earlier, in that conversation in the main hall that felt like it occurred years ago. Most of the undead down here had already evolved into the Crimson Head stage. (The name was taken from yet another file they found. Their technical name was V-ACT, but the researchers had called them Crimson Heads.)

"What's it say?" Chris asked.

"It's a e-mail from the researcher, John, to his girlfriend Ada. He wanted her to gather evidence against Umbrella and help him destroy the corporation. I wish I knew if he ever actually sent the e-mail." Chris grabbed the mouse sitting on the table, moved the cursor to the "send" button, and clicked, repeatedly, just to be sure she got it. The e-mail contained numerous codes and information on the experiments going on in the lab. As long as a single person got it, they had a chance of stopping Umbrella. Rebecca took the mouse from Chris and started opening the tabs on the computer, hoping to find the program for the security system. Luckily, she did. She quickly typed in the username, John, and the password, Ada. She clicked on the Electronic Lock button, and typed in the last necessary code, "Cell." She looked back at Chris, "Let's get moving. I want to get the hell out of here."

Jill peered through the various plain, boring doors scattered around the lab. As she began to walk around a corner, she heard screeching and skittering sounds, followed by ripping flesh. She peered around the corner to see one of the skinned, animal/person things from earlier being ripped open by what could only be described as a cross between a man and an insect. She gasped, an unstoppable reaction, and the insect-thing turned to look at her with a sub-human face. It let out an earsplitting screech, then leapt up and dug its hooked claws into the ceiling. The creature began crawling towards her, and Jill felt an icy fear creep through her. That creature was the single most terrifying thing she had seen sense making her way into the mansion.

Jill took aim and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked empty. She had forgotten to check the clip after she got the gun back. Of course they would've emptied it. Jill knew she was going to die, then and there. The unreal cross between human and insect was going to rip her apart. Knowing and accepting her fate, she still couldn't stop herself from backing away, pressing herself against the smooth stone wall. The monster let out another shriek, and then a deafening boom filled the hallway. The bug-thing fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor, yellow-green liquid oozing from the destroyed skull atop its shoulders.

"Jill?" Chris voice filled the silence, and Jill felt tears spring into her eyes. She ran forward, toward the man who had saved her life twice today. She threw her arms around his neck, placed a kiss on his lips, and then buried her face in his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Jill took a moment to collect herself, and then pulled away from him.

"Chris, Wesker is a traitor, and so is Barry. I don't know how much they have to do with us being here, and the leak, but they aren't our allies."

"I know. Rebecca and I had a run-in with Wesker before we got down here. Rebecca's waiting for me, by the way. We should probably go catch up with her." Jill nodded and began following Chris through the lab.

Rebecca walked slowly towards the generator, all of her focus on walking slowly in a straight line. Any sudden movements, and she would level the mansion, and the surrounding area of forest. She had found the power supply for the lab, apparently, it had been running on back-up generators. The generator had needed fuel, and the fuel had been made with a nitrous compound, meaning a sudden movement would set off an explosion. After an excruciating walk, Rebecca was standing directly in front of the small fuel system, which for some reason, was a few hallways away from the actual generator. As she moved to set the fuel capsule into the device, and slick, pink tongue shot in front of her face. She jumped and nearly dropped the capsule, her fingers trembling. She set the capsule into the machine, completely ignoring the heavy, raspy breath and clicking talons as the Licker, (another name lifted from research notes) moved toward its victim. She slapped the red button on the machine, and turned to face the threat as the generators in the lab hummed to life.

Rebecca squeezed the trigger three times in rapid succession. The creature fell to the ground, writher around, and then went limp. Rebecca quickly ran to the generator room. She slammed her fist down on the button to actually _start_ the generators, which made an even louder noise when actually in use. She stopped when a screech echoed through the air vent above her. The vent shot away from the wall and skidded across the floor. An insect-like creature leapt from the vent and began skittering towards Rebecca. She knew what it was without taking in any major details. A Chimera, according to the e-mail, it was a creature that was created through gene splicing and viral application, a cross between human and fly, but a complete failure. Rebecca blew away the top of its skull and ran back to the elevator where she was supposed to be waiting for Chris.

Chris and Jill waited patiently by the elevator doors. They had decided to give Rebecca ten minutes before they went looking for her. Only a few minutes after they had reached the elevator, the lights in the corridor brightened and the elevator hummed to life. Chris and Jill had a pretty good idea of what Rebecca was doing. Only a few seconds after that, Rebecca was walking down the corridor towards them.

"Jill! I'm so glad to see you again!" Rebecca left the last line that flickered through her mind out of her actual dialogue. _I thought you were dead_. "So, I guess we should see where that elevator goes… Hopefully up." The group boarded the elevator. Rebecca pressed the only button on the panel for the elevator. Much to the group's dismay, the elevator began its descent. It was a long and silent ride to the bottom of the lab. Jill couldn't help but make a stupid joke.

"I guess we're about to enter the ninth circle of hell…"

Wesker began working faster than he himself thought possible as the power to the facility was turned back on. He had hacked into the Red Queen's security system and switched the lab to the back up source. Someone had fixed it. But it didn't matter now. Umbrella's most powerful BOW was about to awaken, and he was about to become _the_ most powerful being on the planet. He dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small vial of light-red liquid. He grabbed the syringe-gun off the table and twisted the vial into it. He heard the elevator stop moving, and footsteps began echoing down the hallway.

He walked quickly behind one of the large glass cylinders that filled the room and jabbed the needle into his arm, then squeezed the trigger. He could feel the chemical as it raced through his veins. It was already taking effect, but there was something he needed to do before it could fully activate. The chemical had already increased his strength by at least double, and he could take in his surrounding with shocking clarity. His reflexes were greater than ever before. He was unstoppable.

Chris stepped through the sliding door first, his handgun in front of him. His finger was resting on the trigger, ready to blow a hole in anything that moved. His ammo was extremely limited, only three left in the gun and a single extra clip. What was in the room should have shocked him, but after everything he had seen over the course of the night, he was immune to grotesque monstrosities. Two sets of at least nine glass cylinders that reached from floor to ceiling, sat in the center of the room, with a space in between the two to walk through. Inside the cylinders were bodies, floating in a blueish liquid. The bodies were gray, and had various scars covering them. It was obvious which were male and which were female, despite their reproductive organs being removed.

"What the hell…" Jill's voice came from somewhere behind Chris. Chris stopped moving completely as Wesker walked into view.

"Chris, Rebecca, nice to see that you two made it this far. And Jill! It seems I _am_ going to have to kill Barry's family after all. He knew better than to let you out of that cell." Jill felt her stomach twist into too many knots to count. Barry was only doing this to keep his family alive. And she may have just killed them.

"Wesker, you son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" She screamed, her anger not just clouding her judgment, but shoving it into the darkest corner of her mind. Chris grabbed her wrist as she stepped forward. Chris wanted to ensure Wesker's suffering just as badly as she did, but he had an actual plan. One of the larger, and obviously more developed bodies had been separated from the others. It was floating in a separate tank that was part of the wall, and it was moving.

"Jill, don't threaten me. I am much more than you can comprehend now. A friend of mine created a special viral-cocktail for me."

"Speaking of viruses, what the hell was leaked in this lab?" Rebecca asked.

"I guess it won't hurt to tell you. Umbrella had been in the business of viral weaponry since its founding. The pharmaceuticals were a cover for their true intentions. What was leaked in this lab is known as the t-Virus, or Tyrant Virus. It is currently Umbrella's only virus that has been tested on humans and given near satisfactory results."

"So these things," Jill said, waving at the tanks, "are the product of an infection?"

"Yes, but they area very select few. Most infected turn into the zombies you encountered. If left too long, they mutate into V-ACTs, or Crimson Heads. And if they survive longer than that, they become Lickers." Chris had heard enough, and the monster behind Wesker was getting restless. Chris was surprised Wesker hadn't noticed it yet. Chris acted quickly, pulling his gun up and firing three times in rapid succession. Wesker dropped to the ground, just as Chris had hoped. The bullets slammed into the glass tank, and a spider web of cracks covered the tube. The monster inside slammed its palm against the cracked glass, and it shattered.

"It's awake! The ultimate BOW! Tyrant," Wesker said. Those turned out to be his final words, as the Tyrant wrapped its hand around Wesker's throat. Its other hand, which had foot long talons instead of fingers, slid easily into Wesker's stomach. Wesker coughed once, spraying blood onto the Tyrant's face, and then went limp. The Tyrant flung Wesker over its shoulder, and his body went through another glass cylinder. The seven foot tall monstrosity began walking towards Chris, Jill, and Rebecca, who had been watching with morbid curiosity, but also frozen to the spot in fear. Chris was the first to snap back into reality, and he aimed his gun and fired, but it only clicked.

"Damn!" He quickly ejected the clip and slapped in a fresh one as Jill and Rebecca began shooting at the towering monster. Chris took aim at the pulsing, red, oversized heart that had somehow moved to the outside of the chest. Bullets slapped into the pulsing organ, but very little blood leaked from the wounds.

"We can't kill this thing! Not with the weapons we've got!" Jill screamed over the roar of gunfire. She was mentally slapping herself for not taking Barry's magnum, or at the very least his custom Samurai Edge. Jill began backing away, and Chris and Rebecca followed suit. The Tyrant was still walking at an excruciatingly slow pace, as if it _knew_ that the three of them weren't going to get away.

A deafening explosion of gunfire assaulted Jill's ears as the hulking beast stumbled back. A large portion of its jaw was missing. The gunshot rang out again, and this time a gaping hole opened up in the Tyrant's heart. It collapsed to its knees, and then fell to the floor, unmoving. Jill turned around to see the one person she needed to see most, Barry Burton.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his hands dropping to his sides.

"Barry," Jill said, walking forward, "It's okay. You were trying to keep your family safe."

"I should have killed him when I had the chance."

"It doesn't matter, he's dead now." Jill smiled up at Barry, and then a cool, female voice began echoing through the entire lab.

"Warning, the self destruct system has been activated. All personnel must evacuate immediately. All locks are now released. Five minutes until detonation."

"What the hell?" Rebecca breathed.

"We have to get the hell out of here! Rebecca and I saw a door when we first got down here. It said something about emergency access. It has to lead to a way out!" Chris yelled, already moving towards the elevator. The other three followed behind him. They started the elevator, and began the ride up, which seemed much longer now that they had a deadline to meet.

Lying in a pool of his own blood, Wesker groaned. His stomach tingled, and his organ's burned, but he was still alive. He slowly pushed himself up, trying not to over exert himself. The final condition for Birkin's miracle virus had been achieved, and it was a success. The virus had done exactly as it was supposed to. Bring the dead back, with benefits. Wesker felt perfect, greater than perfect, if that was possible. He heard metal clang against the cold stone floor and something skittering towards him. It was a Chimera. Undoubtedly the blaring sirens of the self destruct system had stirred whatever was left up. Wesker grinned as the disgusting creature waddled into view. He raced forward, nothing but a blur to the creature, and shoved his fist through its chest. Wesker's second life would undoubtedly be more fun than his first…

Jill ripped open the small metal case sitting in the center of the helipad and slapped her hand on the orange button. A flare shot high into the sky, and she was rewarded with Brad's voice crackling over her radio. "I saw the flare, and I'm on my way. Thank god you're still alive."

Jill turned to smile at Chris. As the group boarded the elevator on their way to the helipad, the computer system had told them they only had three minutes left. It looked like they were going to make it though. Suddenly, the ground shook, and Jill heard the sound of crumbling stone, although it was muffled. Then, a section of the helipad cracked. Rebecca and Barry stepped toward the cracked stone, and in the blink of an eye, the crack was replaced with a gaping hole and chunks of rock were raining down from the sky. The Tyrant, an apparently immortal creature, landed gracefully (for its size) on the helipad. Its clawed hand slammed into Rebecca's stomach, sending her flying backwards. Barry aimed at the monster and unloaded a single round into its face before being swatted away like Rebecca.

Wesker heard the Tyrant as it made its way to the roof of the complex. He smiled, knowing the Jill and Chris probably wouldn't make it out of this alive. Wesker had decided to take the longer way out of the mansion, but with his speed, it was of no consequence. He was already standing in the main hall again after only a single minute. He decided that he could walk for a little, just to show to himself, if no one else, that he was superior to every being on the planet. As he strolled towards the main doors, an inhuman moan and the sound of chains stopped him in his tracks. He turned back to see Lisa Trevor stumbling towards him from behind the stairs.

"Lisa, you really _are_ immortal," he said as a grin spread across his lips. Lisa would be his first true test of power. As she took a step forward, the smaller, initial charges in the basement lab began to detonate, shaking the mansion and causing bits of stone to rain from the ceiling. Wesker didn't hesitate; he raced forward and plunged his fist into Lisa's chest, then ripped it out. Lisa didn't falter. Three tentacles burst from the hole Wesker had made. The tentacles shot at Wesker, but he dodged the attack, grabbed the writhing snakes of flesh, and jerked, hard. The tentacles were ripped from Lisa's body as she fell forward. A scream of pain and frustration tore through Lisa's throat as she pushed herself up. Wesker raced forward again, this time grabbing had shackled arms and pulling them over her head and behind her back. A snap echoed through the main hall, and then Wesker grabbed her head, and twisted sharply.

Lisa Trevor still didn't die. Wesker flipped over her and then leapt back, standing in front of the large doors leading to his freedom. His only choice left was to crush her skull… As he prepared to make his move, another charge detonated in the basement, once again shaking the mansion. Wesker heard the sound of groaning metal, of snapping chains, and then the large chandelier slammed into Lisa, pinning her to the ground. A portion of her skull had caved in, and blood pooled beneath her. Wesker couldn't move for a second, frozen in shock. "That was unexpected." He straightened himself and then opened the large doors, and walked outside.

Jill and Chris fired round after round into the Tyrant's face and heart, but it never stopped moving. They were going to die if they didn't kill it quickly. They only needed to incapacitate it somehow, and then the Mansion's explosion would kill it. Jill saw Barry stir out of her peripherals, but she couldn't focus on him. As she backed away from the towering monster, she heard Barry's magnum join in with their gunfire. Chunks of flesh and bone flew away from the creature, and it stumbled once, but never again. Jill heard Rebecca's voice over the torrent of gunfire, and it was the most beautiful sound she had heard in years.

"Chris! Use this!" Rebecca slid a large metal suitcase toward them, and Chris lunged at it. He quickly opened it, not paying attention to the label, and shouldered an RPG. He yelled at the Tyrant, and the monster turned to him. It focused on Chris instantly, and then it charged him. Chris fired the RPG, and the rocket flew at its target. There was a deafening explosion, and Jill was pushed back by the blast. Chunks of meat and flesh rained down as Brad began lowering the chopper to the helipad. Jill ran to the helicopter and ripped the door open. Barry, Rebecca, and Chris jumped in, and Jill followed behind, slamming the door behind her.

As the helicopter moved up into the air, Brad spoke. "Guys, I'm sorry. I was stupid, and I almost got all of you killed. I-"

"Brad, shut up. You saved us. I think that makes up for your earlier mistake." Jill looked through the tiny window. Her eyes were trained on the mansion, and she watched with not a little bit of pleasure as it was obliterated in a massive explosion. "It's over."

September 1, 1998

Ada Wong, a half-American half-Asian woman, walked gracefully from her kitchen, coffee in hand, to her bedroom. She sat down in front of her computer and shook the mouse lightly. The screen flickered to life and she immediately opened her Internet browser. She checked her e-mails, and immediately opened the first of four e-mails from her one-night-fling-turned-boyfriend John. Every bit of information he had sent her was exactly what she had been using him for. He had given her everything she needed, passwords, keys, project and experiment files. She quickly opened a new e-mail and began typing to her current employer.

_Got what I needed. I'll head for Raccoon the minute I get your OK. I'm almost positive that John is dead, so he won't be a factor. You'll have a sample of the virus within a month of my going to Raccoon, I assure you of that._

She quickly sent the e-mail someone known simply to her as A.W. He had contacted her just over a month ago, and all of her preparations were in order. The minute her gave her a reply, she would be in Raccoon. And within two month's time, she would be a very wealthy woman…

AN: Well, The Mansion Incident has come to a close. Our heroes have made it out of the Spencer Estate alive, for the most part. The villain was vanquished…for the most part, and Umbrella has been brought to justice…but not really. Those factors point to…A SEQUEL!!! And there will be one, as soon as I get a new computer, which should be in December. I'm also planning on starting a fic for Bleach, as well as Left 4 Dead and Silent Hill, starting sometime in winter. So, be looking for those as well as Raccoon's Destruction (working title) in winter of '09/10!


	9. Teaser

AN: I've decided that instead of writing a straightforward retelling of RE2&3 I would mix them with more recent games as flashbacks or retellings to other characters. Since Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition is coming out sometime next March and Jill and Chris are currently my favorite characters, I'm going to do an RE3 & 5 fic and then go back and do a Degeneration & 2 fic. Some people may hate this, while others may really like it. Anyway, here's a little teaser, as I'm not going to be heavily invested in the fic until I get my new computer.

Gasps of pain mingled with the slow _clack_ of heels on cement in the musty and dusty air. A tall, lean woman walked patiently around the dark-skinned man twitching on the floor. His body would jerk violently at random intervals, and gasps of pain would shoot from his lips to accompany them. The woman's cloak flowed lightly as she stalked around the dying man. His hand darted out and grabbed her wrist. She looked down at the hand, her expression hidden by a bird-mask and hood. She ripped her hand from his grasp with obvious disgust. The ever so quiet sound of tearing flesh was accompanied by a garbled scream from the man. A thin, black worm-like creature slid around the man's arm, quickly followed by another, and another, until the man's body was covered with the parasites. A smile was clearly visible under the beak of the half-mask as the woman walked away. The agonized screams that echoed down the dusty and peeling hallway went ignored, as they died down to light moans, and eventually, nothing.

Chris Redfield stared at the dusty, barren stretch of road laid out before him. The unchanging scenery, or lack thereof, was beautiful in its own way. Chris had never been to Africa. Born and raised in America, the only other country he had ever visited up until then had been Europe. Nothing good had come from that trip. Visions of a mansion sitting atop a cliff flashed through his vision. He forced himself to stop thinking about it before darker memories returned.

He set his mind to the task at hand. He was traveling along this dirt road to his next mission. He was to provide backup if anything went terribly wrong with a potential arrest in the Kijuju Autonomous Region of Africa. Alpha Team was supposed to fake a deal with Ricardo Irving, a well-known seller of BOWs. He supposedly had a new product line, and the officials of the BSAA wanted him taken down before those products escaped on the black market. Chris was simply there to ensure everything went smoothly. It was the only thing they would allow him to do now. If he had followed their original orders, he would be taking a much-needed vacation right now, but he couldn't do nothing. He had to keep his mind away from _her_. If he wasn't constantly busy, his mind would wander to that night, the night he lost her.

He stopped that thought process. Even when he tried to focus on other things, his mind would find _some way_ to make everything about _her_. He tried to think of nothing, but that didn't help either. It was true, you never realize how much you _need_ something until it's gone. He needed her, but she was gone, and he couldn't bring her back. He twisted that pain into determination. He would continue doing what they started together. He would wipe out every trace of Umbrella left to terrorize the world, and he would do it for her.

His jeep came to a stop in the middle of a busy street, filled with people who tried to avoid him. He stepped from the sand colored jeep and slammed the door shut. He opened the back door and grabbed his radio earpiece and phone before slamming the door shut.

"I'm Sheva Alomar, your new partner." Chris looked up from the touch screen phone to see a thin, dark-skinned woman walking gracefully towards him. She was petite, but Chris could tell she could definitely take care of herself. She stuck out her hand, and Chris shook it.

"Chris Redfield," he said, a forced smile on his face.

"Mr. Redfield, your reputation precedes you. It's an honor."

"Just Chris, thanks." The two began walking down the wide but crowded street, and Chris got the sick feeling that they were being followed.

"Tension has been high lately with the change in government. They won't be happy to see an American, BSAA or not. That's why I'm your partner, help…put them at ease." Sheva's light African accent was somehow soothing to Chris. Maybe because it was one of the few things about Sheva that didn't remind him of _her_. But Sheva's petite but obviously anything but frail figure, the air of confidence, the gracefulness with which she moves… It was almost too much.

"Are you okay?" Chris hadn't realized he had stopped moving.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry."

On a rooftop three yards away, a woman wearing a tan cloak and bird mask watched the two BSAA operatives walk down the busy street. She pressed her finger to the earpiece in her ear under her hood. A voice that once rang with independence and confidence now sounded emotionless and mechanical.

"Chris Redfield has arrived."


End file.
